Inkcredible - A Fresh Start
by TurquoiseTriangle
Summary: 'Are you ready to join something bigger than yourself' From the author of Forces United, join Agent 4, 8 and 9 as they take different paths in order to complete their missions. As a threat rises to destroy the world, they have to face not only fate, but also the problems that could weigh them down. (Based on Splatoon 2 and Octo Expansion)
1. Enter the Inklings!

**AN: Hey there rock 'n' rollers, this is TurquoiseTriangle (call me Cheah). If any of you read my last story, you would be probably thinking this; 'WHERE IS FORCES UNITED 2?! IS IT OUT YET OR NOT?!'. Well, because of interest and time, I decided to write a Splatoon story and save the Forces United story for later. This is my second story AND my first Splatoon story. This will be based on the Hero Mode and Octo Expansion from Splatoon 2, including Splatoon GMOD videos and memes. I don't own the game and I only own part of the plot and my OCs.**

 **I believed this title of the story is the same as another story a few months ago. Whoever wrote that story, I'm sorry that I used your story as I came up with the title before you uploaded the story.**

 **Enough with me talking, sit back, turn up the volume and get ready for a colorful ride.**

* * *

 **Dedicated to my brother - who finished high school this year. Keep on going.**

 **Dedicated to my friend, Infinite's Ruby and those who struggle with life.**

* * *

 **We have all been here before.**

 **In this madness, this guilt, this despair**

 **We are weak, scared and lonely**

 **But we are filled with hope**

* * *

 _Inkopolis; one of the largest cities in the world. Those who lived there are the Inklings. They are creatures who can transform from humanoid forms to squids though they mostly stay in their humanoid forms. They live a happy life with fresh new fashion and a sport they always enjoy; Turf War._

 _About the Turf Wars, two teams of four battle out to cover a map full of their color ink. They can splat each other resulting in them needing to get back to their spawn points._

 _Anyway, the Inklings were not the only species living on the earth. Below are the Octarians. A century ago, Inklings and Octarians were great friends, but rising sea levels forced them to fight each other. In the end, the Inklings won with the Octarians retreating to the underground; a place with an unacceptable condition._

 _The Octarians don't like the Inklings for one thing; they don't TRUST them thinking that the Inklings are cruel and selfish. They plan to attack the surface and wipe out the Inklings, but a secret group of agents fought them back._

 _The Octarians - to the agents – are cruel and selfish. But not all of them…there are some agents who are like us; weak, scare and outcast. But despite those facts, they can go through the hardest times._

 _And that is the main point of this story._

* * *

 **Chapter 1 - Enter the Inklings!**

 **Inkopolis Square (at a Turf War stage), 9:51 am, 17/06**

The fresh breeze flew in the air as the Turf War was about to begin at Blackbelly Skatepark. On one of the spawn points at one of the ends of the map, a group of four mint green Inklings came up; Team Trend.

One was the leader; an 18-year old male Inkling named Oro with a spiked-comb back hairstyle, golden tips on his hair and have green eyes. He wears Fake Contacts, a Birded Corduroy Jacket, short jeans and Orca Woven Hi-Tops along with wielding the Splat Dualies.

Another was a 16-years old dark-skinned male Inkling named Hunter who has his hair shaved to a buzz cut with emerald green tips and have green eyes. He wears a Paisley Bandanna, a Green Zip Hoodie, long pants and Hunter Hi-Tops along with wielding the Glooga Dualies.

The third one was a slightly tan skinned male Inkling named Mauve, three years younger than Oro, his hair styled as a short flat, spiky Mohawk with magenta tips and have navy blue eyes. He wears a Jellyvader Cap, a Green V-Neck Limited Tee, shorts and Cyan Trainers along with wielding the Dark Tetra Dualies.

"Alright," said Mauve confidently. "Let's get out there and show them what's done!"

"Wait," said Oro. "You're new to our team. I know that you're good at this, but when you don't have a plan, you will lose."

Mauve snorted. "Oh C'mon! How bad can it be?"

He ran off the spawn point and advanced further into the stage.

"CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGE!"

Hunter sighed. "He owes me ten bucks if he gets splat in ten seconds."

And ten seconds later, Mauve was sent back to the spawn point.

"Ok…" said Mauve after re-spawning. "Maybe you're right. So what's the plan?"

"Well we lost a bit of time, so I'll be quick," said Oro adjusting his dualies. "Hunter will paint the left side. Mauve will paint the right side. I'll paint the middle. We'll meet each other in the center. And then near the end, we'll use own special weapons."

"Then let's go already," said Hunter putting his bandanna over his mouth. "And by the way, what about the spare player you invited since Sunny is busy?"

Oops. A fourth player was coming with them, but he's playing to fill in their missing member.

"Oh," said Oro. "Don't worry. We already discuss our plan."

"Yeah…" said the mysterious player.

The match started, and the team put everything in the plan. They split up and ran at different locations while firing ink from their weapons covering the ground in a fresh mint green ink.

"I wonder who we are facing today," thought Oro. "Too bad I didn't check earlier."

They met up in the middle. In the center is a large tower. Whoever claimed it would get an advantage.

"Yes!" said Oro. "We got here first!"

"NOT SO FAST!" yelled a voice.

A gold ink ball splatted in front of Oro. It went everywhere, taking a bit of harm on Oro.

"Oh my…"

In front of them - on top of some of the small towers - are their opposite team — four golden Inklings.

One was an 18-year old tan-skinned female Inkling with the bob hairstyle that has bubblegum pink tips and yellow eyes. She wears a Pearlescent Crown, a Light Bomber Jacket, a golden skirt with long leggings and Gold Hi-Horses along with wielding the Luna Blaster Neo.

Another one was a 15-year old female Inkling with long bangs that have red tips and have purple eyes. She wears a Special Forces Beret, a White Inky Rider (the badges are gold), shorts and Punk Whites along with wielding an N-ZAP '85.

The third one was 16-year old dark-skinned female Inkling with her hair tied up in a bun that has navy blue tips and navy blue eyes. She wears a Golden Toothpick, a White Leather F-3, long pants, and N-Pacer Aus along with wielding a Ballpoint Splatting.

But the leader of the team was a 20-year old brown-skinned male Inkling with his hair tied up in a ponytail (with a white hair band) with red salmon tips and have brown eyes. He wears an Eminence Cuff, a Milky Eminence Jacket, long pants and Milky Enperrials along with wielding the Enperry Splat Dualies.

Oro felt lucky. "Well isn't it Team Bright; the two times tournament champion team!"

"And isn't t Team Trend hither," said Angelo – the leader – deadpan.

"Well it would be such an honor when we win in this battle against you!" boasted Oro.

"You think so?" mocked Angel – the girl wearing the crown. "You're not the freshest squid around here NOT the brightest!"

Hunter sharply drew in his breath. That would be something you wouldn't want to say to Oro. Even if THAT'S true.

"Oh," said Oro angrily. "You want to fight. Then you're in the right spot. Go in for the kill!"

Hunter and Mauve joined the fight. The colorful ink of mint green and gold were flying everywhere.

"ARGH!" screamed Mauve as he was splatted by Mary – the girl wielding the powerful N-ZAP '85.

"Carp…" growled Hunter after he was splatted and his ghost was flying back to the spawn point.

"Darn," said Oro. He was all by himself, and he couldn't fight in a four vs one fight. He fell on his back.

Mary swam in her squid form in her ink and jumped in front of Oro. She turned back into her humanoid form and pointed her gun at him.

"Aw crud…" groaned Oro. He would be killed, returned to his spawn point and have to finish up the work which is already messed by Team Bright.

SNIPE!

From nowhere, a long bullet of ink hit Mary causing her to fall, dissolved into ink and her ghost returned to her spawn point.

"What the-" said Angelo before he and Angel were shot in the blink of an eye.

The next thing they knew was re-spawning in their spawn point.

"What was that?" said Mary.

Angelo noticed the mysterious player on top of the center tower.

"Behold," he said pointing.

That player on the tower was a 14-year old dark-skinned male Inkling with his hair tied up as a ponytail with turquoise tips (in a black hair band), but the long front hair bangs combed to the right and has turquoise eyes. He's wearing a Skull Bandanna over his mouth, a Black Zip Hoodie (a black recolor version of the Green Zip Hoodie), black leather finger less gloves, long pants, and Toni Kensa Black Hi-Tops along with wielding an E-Liter 4K Scope – the most potent charger of all the chargers.

The sniper was using his charger to shoot ink at Gem. Despite the heaviness of her Ballpoint Splatting, Gem was able to avoid his shots.

"Who's that?" asked Mary.

"That's Cadet Classy," said Angelo. "One of the most expert snipers thee would ever know. That gent is X enseamed!"

"Wait. Do you mean X RANK?! The highest of all the ranks!"

"Aye. That gent never misses and only the fastest can dodge his snipes. We called that gent the 'SKULL SNIPER'."

Mary gulped. "This is impossible. We couldn't battle that guy! Oro must have chosen an expert player."

Angel laughed. "X-Rank? Pfft. That won't stop me!"

"Really?" said Mary. "Do you even know what rank we are in?!"

F.Y.I, Mary is C Rank, and Angel is B+ Rank.

"His rank is higher than ours! We would lose!"

"Oh, don't worry," said Angel with a cocky smile. "I know his weakness."

* * *

Gem continued to dodge the sniper's shots. Darn, they were so hard.

And if that was not bad enough, Team Trend had quickly been refreshed and continued inking the map.

Suddenly, a flying ball of gold ink hit Cadet's shoes though not taking much harm.

"Hey!" yelled Mary. "All eyes on me, bully!"

That word got into Cadet's mind. He felt a bit upset.

"Listen, girl," he said, his voice in an Australian accent. "I mean no offence to your team. I'm just doing my …"

But at this, Angel super jumped to the centre tower; right in front of Cadet.

"ARGGGHH!" screamed Cadet as he fell off.

He landed on the ground with a thud. Angel laughed as she landed in front of him.

"Doing your what?" mocked Angel. "Your ARSE?"

She pointed her blaster at Cadet.

"What a coward," she snickered.

But just before she pressed the trigger, something hit her from behind. As a result, she was splatted, and her ghost was flying back to her spawn point.  
She growled and cursed as she re-spawned.

Cadet looked up and saw that Mauve saved him from being splatted.

"You're welcome," said Mauve with a smile.

It was almost the end of the match.

"Time to use our special!" said Oro, his hair sparking. He looked at Mauve. "You know what to do."

Mauve nodded. He went on top of a tower and spotted Team Bright heading to the center. He jumped up over them and did his special; the Splashdown.

"Holy-" screamed Angelo.

He was cut off when Mauve dived and punched the ground unleashing a massive wave of mint green ink, splatting them.

Oro used his special Tenta Missiles, firing large missiles at where there's gold ink or the parts that weren't painted yet. Then Hunter used his Baller to run towards their enemies' territory and brushed the ground.

Finally, the whistle blew.

"The time's up!" said the announcer. "Let's see the results."

A large monitor showed a bird's eye view of the whole map. It calculated how much ink covered the map by the teams' color.

"And the winner is…Team Trend!"

The score bar revealed that Team Trend painted the map by 73% with Team Bright only able to paint 27%.

Oro and Hunter shared a high five. So far, so good. For now…

* * *

 **AN: And there is Chapter 1! I'm happy of how this came up.**

 **Just to let you know, Oro and Angelo are inspired from characters of the Splatoon Manga.**

 **Oro is based from Gloves (manga). They both are cool and like to be fresh. However, Oro isn't that naive and doesn't tell people to stay cool.**

 **Angelo is based from both Rider (manga) and Emperor (Manga). However, he isn't hot-headed nor arrogant. He acts more of a royal king or the true God of the world. He even speaks in a Shakespeare language.**

 **That's all for today. In the next chapter, we will see who will be Agent 4 so put down your thoughts! Also, I will unveil the book cover for this story.**

 **If you like this story: follow or favorite this story for updates of the story. Make sure to review this chapter on what you thought of this story. I'm OK of hearing improvements from you (please no flames).**

 **Stay tune for the next chapter!**


	2. The Great Zapfish Rescue

**Chapter 2 – The Great Zapfish Rescue**

 **Inkopolis Square, 9:59 am**

As the match ended, the Inkopolis News appeared up on the Inkopolis Square Tower Monitor, hosted by pop band Off the Hook.

"Congrats for Team Trend and Team Bright for playing today's match," said Marina – a dark-skinned female Octoling with black and turquoise octopus-like hair and wears DJ clothes. "Thank you for playing."

"You know what time it is…" said Pearl – a female Inkling with cream and pink hair and wears clothes matching a Pop Princess. "It's news time!"

"We got breaking news; the Great Zapfish – the ONLY thing that powers up Inkopolis – is still missing."

"Holy carp! That's right. It has been missing over four days already."

"We have to limit the days of matches since the spawn points have limited power. If they don't get enough energy, Turf Wars can get dangerous."

"We might as well cancel the Splatfests. Just this morning, scientists found ink on where it was last seen – on the Inkopolis Plaza tower. They found weird DNA in it, but it isn't related to any Inklings here."

"Do you think someone could have stolen it?"

"I guess so; it went missing two years ago, and after a few days, it came back. So maybe the people who stole it in the first place stole the Great Zapfish again."

"Also, Callie – a famous member of the pop band Squid Sisters – is still missing. She disappeared on the day the Great Zapfish was missing."

"Detectives are trying to call Marie - the remaining member of the Squid Sisters. But what did we know from her; NOTHING."

"That's not true. On the day Callie disappeared, Marie said on Squidnet that she would be absent for a while and promised to return. We never heard from her ever since. Should we make a search party for both the Great Zapfish and Callie?"

"Nah, I'm sure they'll be fine. Plus, those detective guys are looking for clues anyway."

"That's all for now, until next time…"

Both Pearl and Marina got up and did their pose. "Don't get cooked, stay off the hook!"

* * *

As Team Trend came out from the lobby, a large crowd came over to them.

"You did such a great job!" said one female inkling.

"Nice one defeating Team Bright!" said a male inkling.

Oro enjoyed the moment. He loved cheering fans and good compliments. Some of the inklings would try to reach out and touch him as if he's a celebrity.

"Where should we eat to celebrate?" said Mauve.

"Maybe at the Crust Bucket to be quick," said Hunter as he and Mauve walked away.

At this, Oro remembered; where's Cadet?

He turned around and saw him; the Skull Sniper was standing by himself at the lobby. His hair is now turquoise with dark turquoise tips. His black jacket is unzipped, revealing that underneath the jacket, he's wearing a Green Velour Octo Tee.

"Typical," thought Oro. "Cadet is one of the greatest snipers I ever know. Why isn't he out here in the spotlight? He should at least have some fans."

Oro silently walked towards Cadet. Funny that Cadet still wears his bandanna over his mouth.

"Hey brah," said Oro coolly. "We got a crowd out here. Aren't you going to join me?"

Cadet shook his head gloomily. "N…no thanks. I prefer to be alone."

"What's the purpose of your face?" joked Oro.

Cadet sighed and blurted out, "Do you think anyone would cheer for a coward like me? Didn't you see what happened back there?"

Cadet's words were very sharp as a knife. Oro inhaled. This isn't how he wanted Cadet to be.

"Well," said Oro putting his hand over Cadet's shoulder. "If you're feeling low, you could come to me for help. I'm available when you need the time to."

This surprised Cadet. Oro started walking off. He looked behind and motioned Cadet to come. But the Skull Sniper just looked away meaning that he prefers to be alone.

When Oro's out of sight, Cadet sighed. He looked up and spotted a group of inklings whispering to each other.

"Did you see what happened to that sniper?" whispered one of them.

"Yeah! He fell off because he was oblivious to that squid jumping to him!" whispered another.

"What a coward!" laughed the third inkling.

Cadet was NOT oblivious to those facts. That was how every day was for him. Sure, Cadet was able to get to Rank X in one year, become a charger pro and earned the name 'the Skull Sniper' but he has vulnerabilities. Because of his cowardice, he never dares to engage in face-to-face battles as he always is the sniper on the highest building so that no inkling can fight him. He barely has any friends, which might explain why he doesn't have a team. He only plays as a spare teammate for those who are in need of one.

The Skull Sniper moved his front tentacle bang that slid to his right eye and spotted his father at a restaurant. At this, he remembered something important his father wanted to tell him.

"After the match, I want to talk to you. There's something important you need to know."

Cadet smiled and turned into his squid form. He slid slowly to Mr Classy.

Mr Classy was reading a newspaper while sitting at a table when he felt something touched his foot. He looked down seeing a turquoise squid wearing a Skull Bandanna having its tentacle on his shoe.

"Ah," said Mr Classy laughing lifting the squid. "There you are."

Cadet smiled, but it's impossible to see if he's smiling as he's in squid form. He looked at his father; a slightly tall dark-skinned inkling with a buzz cut hairstyle with blue tips. He's wearing Tinted Shades, a Zekko Jade Coat and Suede Marine Lace-Ups. His hair color matches his coat and shoes.

"About time you showed up," said Mr Classy as he put Cadet onto his table.

"You need to tell me something, right?" said Cadet.

Mr Classy hesitated. "I don't know how to say this, but I'll say it anywhere. I LOST my job. The company laid me off two weeks ago."

Cadet was perturbed. His father was fired? 2 weeks ago?

"Y…You lost your jobs two weeks ago?" exclaimed Cadet. "You could have told me about it in the first place!"

His father sighed. "I'm sorry that I didn't, BUT I found a job in Squidney."

"Does this means we have to move?"

"No; I'm moving. Not YOU."

"What?!"

Well because you started your job two months ago, I wanted you to continue your work career, including your turf war career."

"Where am I going to stay at?"

"That's YOUR question for yourself. You are going to need to find a home to stay. You could buy a house or I could get someone to let you stay at THEIR house."

Cadet was shocked. "What? Roommate? Roommates with the kids in Inkopolis?"

Mr Classy noticed Cadet's rejection for staying with the other Inklings. "Oh C'mon! You know people from Inkopolis aren't THAT bad."

"They are just a bunch of NERDS!" objected Cadet. "They always try to 'stay fresh' and waste a lot of money on junk. Besides, why would anyone wanted me to stay with them? They only wanted to be around the freshest squids."

Mr Classy sighed once again. "Just find a place to stay by the end of this week. I'm trying to look out for you."

Suddenly, Mr Classy's phone rang. He took it out and looked at it.

"Oh!" he said before turning into squid form and went away. "The hat I ordered is already at Cooler Heads! I'll see you later."

Cadet groaned as he watched his father disappeared around the corner. He then lazily flopped off the table and turned back into human form. He looked at the inklings hanging outside.

"It's going to be hard finding one," he said in his mind.

He went outside and looked to the left aimlessly. Just then, he noticed something strange. Next to Ammo Knights, there was a drain. Lime ink was splashing in it before disappearing.

Making sure no one is looking, he went closer to the drain.

"I wonder who's in there?" he thought.

Against his cowardice, he moved his front tentacle bang to the side, adjusted his ponytail, turned into squid form and hopped into the drain.

* * *

The first thing Cadet noticed was the darkness. Not that kind of dark. Not the kind of dark where monsters lurk, and it was cold. Surprisingly, it felt warm and squishy like sleeping in a bed. But that's when realized what the 'squishy' thing was. Even though he couldn't see, he could feel the disgusting soft mold touching his skin. The smell wasn't too surprising as it smells like fruit left out in the sun for too long.

Just right before he couldn't take it and turn back, he reached the end of the drain tunnel. He poked his head out through the drain. He looked around. The place was foggy, and the only visible thing was a concrete platform. Further ahead was a thin rock tunnel looking like an entrance to a garden. On the side was a Japanese-styled hut.

"This must be an ancient unknown place," thought Cadet. "There's nobody around here."

As if on queue, he noticed a mysterious figure walking back to the hut. It was wearing a black kimono with triangle patterns and sandals. The hair was tied up in a large bow and in a light grey color with lime green tips. It was also carrying a parasol.

Cadet was about to go back into the drain when the mysterious figure turned around revealing to be female. She has golden eyes.

"Hey," she said.

Cadet reluctantly came out of the drain and turned back into his human form. He didn't feel safe to, but it was too late to run. Plus, the girl is an inkling, and somehow, she looked familiar.

"You showed up!" said the girl. "As soon as I saw you aimlessly wandering around the square, I knew you were the one."

"The one?" thought Cadet. "Me? What was she talking about? What does she want me to do?"

"I'm Marie," continued the girl. "I know you're probably a bit starstruck, but I need you to get over it."

Wait a minute…MARIE?! The famous Marie from the Squid Sisters! Cadet couldn't believe his luck. He had to blink a few times to make sure he wasn't dreaming. But it was her all right. Despite not wearing her traditional sparkly clothes, he recognized the face already.

"Yes," said Marie doing her signature pose. "I'm THAT Marie. You know…from the Squid Sisters."

If there were music playing, it would power down. Cadet was so starstruck that he didn't know what to say in front of the celebrity. All he could do was standing still and say nothing.

"You've never heard of me?" said Marie shocked. "For eel?"

Cadet quickly snapped back into the present. Oh good gosh that his bandanna is covering his blushing cheeks!

"No, no, no!" said Cadet embarrassed. "I got lost in thought! I…It's nice meeting you!"

He went closer to Marie and offered a handshake.

"Well, you are a quiet one," said Marie shaking his hand. "…but you have to do."

Cadet felt amazed at TOUCHING Marie's hand for once. He wouldn't want to wash again.

"Anyway, I've got a little...thing I need some help with," said Marie. "By now, you've heard that the Great Zapfish that powers Inkopolis is missing."

"Yeah," said Cadet. "It's been missing for four days, and we're going to lose power."

"Well, it's not JUST missing – it's been squidnapped by the Octarian menace!"

Cadet was shocked. "The Octarians!"

"Yes," said Marie. "Them. You know about them, right?"

"Well, the Octarians are octopus-like creatures. I learnt about them at school. A century ago, Inklings and Octarians were great friends, but they never thought the rising sea levels would cause them to fight for the rights of the land. The Inklings won, but the Octarians have to retreat underground which is known to be bad. So are they doing this as a revenge?"

Marie nodded. "Yes. That's true. That happened two years ago."

"How do you know all of this?"

"On the surface, I may just look like an absurdly talented pop star but in truth…I'm Agent 2 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon; a secret society of heroes who saved the world from Octarians! Now, I've been trying to keep an eye on the Octarians in my downtime, but I'm a busy girl."

"If only Callie were around to lend a hand…" thought Marie grimly before looking at Cadet with a determined look.

"I need YOU to go get the Great Zapfish back from those slimy Octarians!" offered Marie. "What do you say? Are you in?"

Cadet was shocked again. HIM? Save the Great Zapfish AND Inkopolis? Fight the Octarians? Sure he's an expert sniper, but he's never learnt how to go on a rescue mission. Let alone; a COWARD on a rescue mission. Also, he knows that the Octarians are advanced in technology so who knows what weapons they got.

"Hold on," said Cadet. "Me? I don't want to be rude but why ME? I know that you can't do it alone but why me? Is it dangerous?"

Marie sighed. "Yep. I won't lie, it will be dangerous. I set up spawn points around the Octarian realm, but they can only save you three times. They only got limited power. I'm OK for you not to go but I BEG you. You know what's going to happen if you don't help. They will attack the surface once they're charged up. Inkopolis will perish before you know it. Please, I beg you!"

Cadet just stood sadly. He didn't know if he could do it. He wasn't sure how he could be strong. He didn't know if he could save everyone. He didn't even know if he could protect himself.

Marie thought for a while before coming up with an idea. "If you help me save the Great Zapfish, I will tell everyone that you rescue the Great Zapfish."

What she said has more effect than being splatted in the head. Then it hits Cadet. What if he does it? What if everyone knows about it? That way, no one will ever think of him as a coward. They would be kinder to him, and he won't feel bad anymore. Of course, that means being stalked by followers every day, but Cadet is tired of being made fun at. This was his only way to fit in for the first time. The only way to not hide in the shadows anymore. The only way to be treated fairly.

Cadet took Marie's hand and shook it. "I will help you. I will save the Great Zapfish and save Inkopolis."

"Alright!" said Marie happily. "Welcome aboard! You are now Agent 4 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon!"

She stepped aside revealing fresh-looking clothes lying in the hut.

"I even bought you a brand-new Hero Suit as a signing bonus. You will need it."

Cadet went to the clothes. He was surprised to what was there. Those clothes were costly in the shops, but he couldn't believe that he was getting the Hero Suit for FREE. He took the Hero Headphones and put it on his ears but didn't take off his bandanna. He quickly put the Hero Hoodie over his Black Zip Hoodie and zipped it up to the collar. He took off his shoes and put on the Hero Snowboots. He then grabbed an ink tank and slung the straps over his arms.

"This is nice…but it's not my style," said Cadet critically, eying at his lime hoodie. "Do you have a turquoise one?"

"I didn't buy a turquoise one," said Marie.

"Oh well," said Cadet changing his hair colour to lime green (with turquoise tips) which matches his hoodie. "Can't have everything."

"Well, you look great. It fits like a glove!" said Marie before saying in her mind, "Not bad for an old hand-me-down."

"Now," said Marie determined. "…let's go tear those Octarians limb from limb from limb from limb from limb from…Well, you get the picture."

Cadet shuddered at this thought. This meant one thing; he was going to take some lives from the Octarians. Even though he could act cold, he didn't like the feeling of killing someone. Unless there were spawn points around.

"OK," said Marie giving out instructions. "There are many mini Zapfishes in the Octarian realm, so you need to collect them. Once you got enough, they will power up to help us get to the next platform and get closer to the Great Zapfish. The entrances to the Octarian realm are invisible, so you'll have to ink them to reveal them."

"Got it," said Cadet. "But first, do you have any weapons?"

"I do have some," said Marie pointing to a pile of lime and black weapons.

Cadet went over to the pile and dug into it. He found a Hero Charger Replica – which is just a black and lime recolour of the Splat Charger – and spun it around before slapping the top onto his other hand.

"Wow!" said Marie impressed. "You must like chargers."

Cadet smirked, but the bandanna still hides his smug smile. He inked one of the entrances and went in.

* * *

 **AN: And here is our Agent 4: Cadet the Skull Sniper. Anyone who guess him as the protagonist will win an imaginary cookie, :3. Also, do you like the story cover I made?**

 **Anyway, I would like to thank Infinite's Ruby for following this story. She will also make a surprise soon in this story!**

 **So let the story continue! Hopefully this story isn't too much **** like my first one. The next chapter will start below the surface, in the darkness...**

 **If you like this story: follow or favorite this story for updates of the story. Make sure to review this chapter on what you thought of this story. I'm OK of hearing improvements from you (please no flames).**

 **Until the next chapter, stay fresh.**


	3. The New Agents

**AN: Surprise! I'm adding in the Octo Expansion story for my story. It will take place at the same time as the Hero Mode of Splatoon 2. Hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

 **Chapter 3 – New Agent Career**

 **Unknown Place, Unknown Time**

There was a person. The first thing she knew was darkness. And there was a beautiful melody in that background.

 _You ready for this?_

 _Get on the floor and dance with me._

 _You need to hear our song._

 _Rock to the beat._

 _You'll feel the_ _synchronizing_

 _When you move and I move_

 _And we feel the melody_

 _You better…_

The song died down and the next thing she heard was this;

"AHOY! OCTOLING!" yelled a voice.

Slowly, she opened her eyes to see an elderly inkling. Though her sight was blurry, she could see that he wears glasses, have thick eyebrows and a large beard and wears green military clothes and a white soldier hat. He's also holding a cane and carrying a large backpack.

"Up and at 'em, ya lazy whiffle-whaffle!" yelled the inkling angrily.

"W…what the…" the person thought in mind.

"This fight ain't over! Prepare for a royal whoopin'!" yelled the inkling as he put his cane on the person's stomach.

"What?" thought the person. "Fight? Is he going to hurt me?"

But then, the elderly inkling looked at the person and removed the cane.

"But there's no honor in defeating an unarmed opponent," he said as he offered the person a hand to get up. "And you seem to have lost your weapon somewhere around here."

As the person got up, the elderly inkling looked around.

"And just where is…'here'…anywhere?" said the elderly inkling. "The last thing I remember, you were battling my proteges – Agent 3 and General Jus – in Octo Valley…when you were suddenly attacked by someone."

"Agent 3?" thought the person. "General Jus? Who are there? Did I fight with them?"

"And somehow we marooned here…" continued the elderly inkling. "I woke up and escape from a few strange-looking octolings and I found you here. So, uh…how about we call a temporary truce while we find a way to escape?"

The person nodded dumbly.

"But where are my manners," said the elderly inkling. "I haven't even told you my name! I'm Captain Cuttlefish – leader of the legendary New Squidbeak Splatoon! And you are…?"

The person thought.

And thought.

And thought.

And thought.

But it was impossible.

"This is the part where you tell me your name," said Cuttlefish.

"Uh…" said the person – speaking for the first time. Her voice sounds American. "I…I don't remember."

"By kracken…You lost your memory when you hit the ground?! Can't you remember anything about yourself? Anything at all?!"

The person thought again. All she remembered was that she's female, but it wasn't enough info. The girl tried again but nothing come to mind. It was so painful and her head was hurting.

"I…I can't!" she blurted out. "I don't remember much about myself."

"Well but most interesting…" said Cuttlefish. "I noticed you were humming the Calamari Inkantation right before you came. Could it be? Has this heavenly melody been etched into your very soul?!"

The girl thought again. When she was asleep, she heard the song. Could it be?

"I think so…" said the girl.

"Well I've heard tell of Octarians whose souls were etched by those squidtastic grooves," continued Cuttlefish. "But that was a couple of years back, during the agents' battle with DJ Octavio. Still…I can't shake the feeling that this is related somehow. In any case, sorry for siccing Agent 3 and General Jus on you back there."

"It's OK," said the girl. "I don't remember."

"Any fan of the Squid Sisters is a friend of mine! I mean that with all of my hearts. Let's get moving. We need to find a way outta here!"

The girl smiled. It seemed that they're on a train platform. There were many tapes rolled up on the walls. She went towards one of the doors and tried to open it.

"Darn," she said. "It's locked."

She looked at herself in the door's window's reflection. She's an octoling with pink eyes and beautiful brown skin as if she took a nice suntan. Unlike the inklings who have smooth tentacle hair, her hair has suction cups on them and are curly. It's red-pink with yellow tips. She's wearing the Squidfin Hook Cans, a black zipped-up vest (from the collar to the belly button) with the left sleeve cut off, a black skirt and black hi-shoes. She's carrying a futuristic-looking ink tank backpack.

She looked down and saw that she have a yellow bracelet on her left wrist and her right ankle. On the bracelet, it read 'TEST SUBJECT 10,008'.

So that's how the girl looks like. But of course, she doesn't know what an octoling is. For some reason, she felt like she needs to go SOMEWHERE.

"We could take the train there," said Cuttlefish pointing to something near the station. "Don't take the right side of it. That's where I escaped from the strange-looking octolings."

The girl observed it. It was a subway train with a few graffiti stripes on them. It seemed abandoned and there are only pink ink puddles there matching the girl's hair color.

They walked through the long train on the left side and to the other end.

"So anyway," said the girl. "D…do you know what I am?"

"You're an Octoling," said Cuttlefish.

"Octoling?"

When the girl asked more, Cuttlefish explained to her about the history of the Inkling's and Octarians' society and the feud between them long ago.

"So what do you have that's against me?" said the girl. "You were hostile to me at first."

"Well…" said Cuttlefish feeling guilty. "It's not because of how you look, or the traditions Octarians have – I'm ok with that. It's just that I don't trust any Octarians."

The girl sighed as she got out the other end of the train and went through a broken train tunnel. There was barely any light for them to see. There was only light at the end of that tunnel.

"This is getting sketchy," said Cuttlefish. "…but I don't want to be here for long."

"Then that's our only way out," said the girl. "But I feared that something horrible would come soon."

They followed the light to the end of the tunnel. The girl looked at the walls. There were more graffiti stripes and it was pretty evident that the place was attacked once as there are holes in the walls.

Finally, they got to the end.

"Well, we found a way out…" said the girl.

But what they saw was another train station; more significant than the one they were in. It looks like the central station.

"Sort of…" said the girl.

She saw the platform and there was a ladder. She climbed it and then reached out her hand to help Cuttlefish.

"Thanks," said Cuttlefish.

The girl observed the platform. There were a few lights. There were lockers at both ends with a vending machine next to one. There's a lone telephone in the middle – it's alarms and speaker resembling a face. There's also an octoling sleeping on a large piece of cardboard…

Wait a minute…octoling?

The girl looked at the octoling on the floor. He looks – and he wears - like the girl except that he's a BOY. He seems pretty strong and a bit muscular — his shaved hair with a long octopus tentacle running down the middle of his head resembling a mohawk. He wears long pants. He's even wearing the yellow bracelets except that they read 'TEST SUBJECT 10,0009'.

His eyes were closed, sleeping silently on the cardboard piece. Judging by the expression, he seemed to be scared and cold.

The girl frowned. He must be living rough all alone by himself in the gloomy station.

"Uh…" said Cuttlefish waking the boy up. "Are you OK?"

At this, the girl realized that the boy has two Octo Shots next to him. When he woke up, he took fright and pointed one of the Octo Shots to her and Cuttlefish.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" he screamed.

The girl noticed that the boy has heterochromia. His left eye is red and the right eye is purple. It was pretty weird for someone to have different colored eyes.

"Whoa!" said Cuttlefish. "Calm down. You know that we don't have weapons."

The boy hesitated but convinced himself to drop his weapon.

"You're OK?" asked Cuttlefish.

"I'm fine," grumbled the boy holding his arm.

"Well allow me to introduce myself. I'm Captain Cuttlefish and you are?"

The boy stared at Cuttlefish and the girl with a blank expression.

"Uh…"

He thought.

And thought.

And thought.

And thought.

But it was impossible.

"I don't know," said the boy dumbly.

"What?!" said Cuttlefish. "You don't remember as well?"

"Well, the first thing I knew was everything was black. I can hear somebody yelling insults and I was screaming. When I woke up, I find myself alone, so I made my way here."

"Do you remember anything else?" asked the girl.

"No," said the boy sadly. "All I remember was that I was in some kind of ARMY before. I even felt like I need to go SOMEWHERE."

"I see…" said Cuttlefish.

The boy looked at the girl.

"And who is she?" the boy asked.

"Oh," said Cuttlefish. "She has no memory as well. I found her on a train station."

The two octolings looked at each other. Somehow, they have the same thought. They both felt like they were trying to get to somewhere.

"Have we met each other? I felt we're related but where from?" they thought.

Suddenly, the telephone in the middle rang.

"What was that?" said the girl.

"Strange," said the boy. "It was off when I got here."

They went up close the telephone. Cuttlefish picked up the microphone and spoke into it.

"Hello?" he said. "Anyone there?"

There was no reply, but the telephone kept ranging.

"Funny," said the boy looking at the speaker. "Maybe it's broken o…"

" _SEARCHING FOR USER ID…,_ " said the telephone loudly causing the boy to fall backwards. " _USER 10008 AND 10009 CONFIRMED._ "

The two octolings were shocked to here what they heard.

10008 and 10009.

Those numbers were on their bracelets. Could it be…?

" _Greetings, 10,008 and 10,009. Your current location is Deepsea Metro Central Station,_ " said the telephone.

The two octolings were dumbstruck. 10,008? 10,009? Then it hits them; the girl is 10,008 and the boy is 10,009.

" _My primary function is to facilitate your journey to the promised land_ ," continued the telephone. " _Pleased to make your acquaintance._ "

Suddenly the telephone stopped for a while. " _ASSESSING COMMUNICATION EFFICIENCY…EFFICIENCY: 12.42 %. ENABLING CONTEMPORARY SPEECH MODE._ "

10,008 and 10,009 looked at each other. What was this telephone doing?

" _WHAT IS CRACKALACKING, HOME SKILLET?_ " said the telephone loudly than ever. " _Let us bounce to the promised land for sho. I am bout it bout it, so listen while I...SLANG_NOT_FOUND…..you the facts. You have spent your entire life in the dark. Your eyes closed to the new hotness that awaits. The promised land; a utopia of light beyond your wildest dreams. It is all that and a bag of cool beans._ "

"The promised land?" thought 10,008 and 10,009. "That's sound like a good place. Any place would be better than in this train station."

" _I will take you to the promised land now,_ " said the telephone.

The two octolings and Cuttlefish smiled.

" _NOT!_ " said the telephone. " _Ha ha ha! Physhe out!_ "

Annoyed, 10,009 growled revealing his fanged teeth which aren't a surprise to 10,008 (as inklings and octolings have fangs). What surprises 10,008 was that 10,009 has a fiery temper. That's one bad boy you wouldn't want to mess with. She even noticed that 10,009's purple eye changed reddish for a while.

" _Only cats who have proven themselves can…ERROR…the promised land,_ " continued the telephone. " _Do you dig, dog? There have been 10,007 applicants so far, which makes you two applicant 10,008 and 10,009. This opportunity comes once in a lifetime, yo. Good luck and…SLANG_NOT_FOUND._ "

Proven themselves? The trio looked at the telephone confused. What do they need to do? 10,007 applicants tried to get to the promised land?

" _This is Deepsea Metro Central Station, the realio dealio central hub of the facility. Here is your CQ-80 and CQ card,_ " continued the telephone. " _They are SO bad._ "

At this, it spits out a CQ card. It looked like a tap train card and it's blue and white. Then, the telephone burped out the CQ-80 – a small submarine-shaped device with a control stick on it.

"Phwoar," said 10,008 blocking her nose as a joke.

" _Guard them with you lizzife, because if you lose them, you will be…ERROR,_ " said the telephone. " _Now come on ride the train. Outie 5000._ "

The telephone went silent. Everyone was quiet…until Cuttlefish breaks the silence.

"Applicant 10,008 and 10,009, eh?" he said. "That's a beakful. I think I'll just call you two…Agent 8 and Agent 9!"

The two octolings looked at each other. Those names are alright. So for now on until they figure out their real names, the girl is Agent 8 and the boy is Agent 9.

"This 'promised land' must be the surface," said Cuttlefish. "I wonder how deep underground we are. There's no time to waste! C'mon you two! Grab those new dealie-dos and get moving!"

Agent 8 picked up the CQ-Card and the CQ-80. At this, a sound filled the room.

"It sounded like a train coming into the station," thought 8.

That is because there IS a train coming into the station. It was a subway train – just like the one she saw at first – except with more carriages. It bored graffiti stripes on it along with random stickers.

Agent 9 picked up his two Octo Shots and went into one of the carriages.

Cuttlefish was about to go on when Agent 8 stopped him. By the look of his body, he wouldn't have enough energy and probably need rest.

"I think you should stay here," said 8. "You deserve more rest than I do."

Cuttlefish smiles. "OK then. I'll set up a tent here and wait for you. Be careful you two."

"Oi!" snapped Agent 9. "Hurry up and get on the train."

8 quickly ran towards the carriage just as the door closed. 9 gave her an Octo Shot. Judging by the look in his mismatched eyes, 8 would probably need that weapon.

"This is going to tough, but I felt like that 'promised land' is where I need to go. I wonder how it will go, but I think I see something horrible that will happen next. I just have to get to the bottom of this," thought 8.

* * *

 **Octo Canyon, Mission 1 – Return of the Octarians**

Cadet was teleported on the spawn base in his first mission. He looked around. It was a large town, but most of the buildings looked like they were going to fall. Some of them still standing have cracks in them.

"Poor Octarians," thought Cadet. "Despite stealing the Great Zapfish, it looks like they need it more than us."

He pointed his charger in front and let out a long straight line of lime ink.

"Perfect," he said as he changed into squid form and swam through the ink.

He arrived at a launchpad. He groaned. He hated launchpads which means he will have to use it to super jump on a spot. The problem is that he couldn't land on his feet properly when doing his super jump.

Despite this, he got onto the launchpad and jumped towards a large platform. Quickly, he turned back into human form and shot out ink onto the floor where he's going to land just in time when he turned back into squid form and splashed into the ink. When Cadet turned back into human form, he looked around and saw dark fuchsia ink around him. He heard a curious sound. He looked up and saw an Octotrooper. It seemed weird with fully green eyes and large purple lips.

"Oc. To. Pus?" thought Cadet dumbly.

He was brought back to the present when the Octotrooper shot a giant ball of dark fuchsia ink at him. But the Skull Sniper was quick. He dodged and shot a long line of lime ink. He swam in it avoiding the Octotrooper.

He went on; he didn't fight some Octarians but was able to get past them. At this, he came across a vault.

" _You need to find a key to open that_ ," said Marie through his headset.

He went into one of the sheds. There were many boxes around. He uses a splat bomb to destroy the boxes quickly.

BOOM!

Lime ink was splatted everywhere. A bit covered his bandanna. He wiped it and noticed that there were some Octarians in front of him!

"Oh carp!" he screamed as they did full fire on him. He dodged out of the way.

Suddenly, a ball of fuchsia ink hit him in the stomach, harming him. He fell. The Octarians came in closer. Cadet started to sweat.

"Oh no, no, no!" he thought.

Suddenly, he accidentally let out a splat bomb and it went off.

BOOM!

The lime ink exploded everywhere again, splatting the Octarians – thus killing them. Cadet watched as they reduced to lime ink.

The Skull Sniper felt his mouth went dry. He KILLED people PERMANENTLY.

"Um…Marie," said Cadet, feeling a bit of tense. "Did I just…"

" _Don't worry about them,_ " said Marie.

"Sorry, what?" said Cadet confused.

" _The Octarians have spawn points so they should be fine,_ " said Marie matter-of-factly. " _It's just that you made some enemies._ "

"Oh…" said Cadet.

He continued on his journey. At one point, he walks across a VERY narrow platform.

" _Don't look down,_ " warned Marie. " _Or do. Whatever._ "

Cadet looked down and saw that he was a long way down. This made him tremble. Even though inklings don't have bones, they can still receive pain.

Finally, he was able to get to the mini zapfish. It was surrounded by a large bubble.

" _There it is!_ " said Marie. " _Bust it and grab that zapfish._ "

Cadet aimed his charger at the bubble and started to charge up.

"3…2…1…" said Cadet releasing the charge.

The ink fired at the bubble and hit it so hard that it exploded like a watermelon except that it's lime ink. As Cadet got closer, the small Zapfish purred happily.

"Gotcha!" the Skull Sniper said.

When he got the Zapfish, a launchpad appeared.

" _Use that launchpad to teleport back to the spawn point!_ " said Marie.

Sighing reluctantly, Cadet went over to the launchpad and super jumped back to the spawn point. As soon as he hit the spawn point, he was sent back to Tentakeel Outpost.

He jumped out of the entrance and was greeted by Marie.

"Great work, Agent 4," said Marie. "Inkopolis may not be doomed after all."

Suddenly, the mini zapfish sparkled electricity in excitement. This electrocutes Cadet.

BUZZ!

The Skull Sniper's body was covered with electricity strikes. He let go of the Zapfish.

"Yow!" said Cadet. "That hurts."

"Oh," said Marie. "You better be careful with the mini Zapfishes. They can get excited."

Cadet nodded dumbly as he picked up the Zapfish. The Zapfish snuggled into Cadet's arms deeply. It sparkled again; this time, electrocuting his long front tentacle bang. The electricity lifted it before letting go of it.

FLUMP!

The front tentacle bang slapped onto Cadet's eye. He could hear Marie giggle.

"That Zapfish likes you," said Marie.

Cadet moved his front tentacle bang to the side. He looked at the Zapfish. It was smiling happily with its cute eyes staring at him. It made a gurgling sound trying to say 'thank you'.

But Cadet didn't need to know. He was surprised by how kind the Zapfish was. Just then, Oro's voice came into his mind.

" _If you're feeling low, you could come to me for help. I'm available when you need the time to._ "

Perhaps Oro was right. He was eager to be a friend of the Skull Sniper. The Zapfish was treating him as if Cadet's a father. So maybe there would be people who like him. Despite this though, Cadet bit his lips. His fanged teeth were touching his lips making it hurt. That couldn't be possible. Many people made fun of him for being a coward. Nobody would love a coward. Nobody.

Cadet shrugged the thought off and looked at Marie. "Where do I put the Zapfish at?"

"Put it at the fishbowl by the edge there," said Marie pointing.

Cadet did as he was told. As he put the Zapfish in the water, it swam around before coming up and spitting water onto the Skull Sniper. The lime inkling didn't show any sign of disturbance as he stepped back and put his hands out for the water to run on them. He hadn't cleaned his hands ever since the Turf War battle he had today.

"Thanks, buddy," he said gratefully.

The Zapfish gurgled again in response. Cadet smiled, but the bandanna still hides his smile. However, there was no time to lose.

He went back to two entrances saving two more Zapfishes. He was able to snipe his enemies off from a far distance and with quick-thinking, he outsmarted his obstacles.

"Well you did a pretty good job," said Marie as she and Cadet watched the three Mini Zapfishes swim around in the fishbowl. "We just need one more than we could advance closer to the Great Zapfish."

Cadet looked at the last entrance; he hadn't used that one and it was different compared to the other openings. It was larger and shinier.

The Skull Sniper was about to go in when Marie called him.

"Be careful there," said Marie. "That one would be more dangerous than the last three."

Cadet could tell that Marie senses great danger but just smiled. Again, the bandanna hides it.

"Don't worry. I could probably do this. How bad can it be?"

At this, he went in.

"This kid is tough though he's a bit of a coward," thought Marie. "I might as well look up who he is and where he comes from."

* * *

Cadet arrived in a large area. He looked further ahead. Far away from his platform was a larger platform. There's a zapfish in a cage at the middle of that platform, but suspiciously, there's fuchsia ink around it.

"OK," said Cadet. "This isn't too bad."

He super jumped to the large platform, fired his ink at it, and splashed down on it. As he emerged, he noticed that the Zapfish didn't look happy. It was making gurgling noises.

"What's going on?" he thought.

Suddenly, a large octopus tentacle emerged from the fuchsia ink and grabbed the zapfish – pulling it in.

Cadet gasped. Now he knew why Marie senses 'great danger' and where THAT came from. He wondered what's going to happen. He didn't have to wait.

A shining light came over the fuchsia ink. So bright that Cadet had to cover his eyes. Through his fingers, he could see something substantial coming out of the ink. After the dramatic entrance, it started to steam up and revealed itself to be an oven weapon.

A FREAKING GIANT STEAMING MOVING OVEN-LIKE weapon.

If Cadet's eyes could go wider, they would. Somehow, rescuing the zapfish didn't seem to matter anymore. It was every man for himself.

Cadet turned around and was about to run when one of the loaves of the Octo Oven popped open.

BOOM!

It nearly touched the Skull Sniper, but fuchsia ink covered part of his jacket and boots.

"Why did I say this won't be bad?" groaned Cadet in pain.

" _The end of the loaves look deadly,_ " said Marie. " _That's why I never eat the end slices._ "

"Thanks for that advice," said Cadet. "What I want to know is how do I destroy THAT machine?"

" _The tentacle up there is the source of the Octo Oven. Shoot it and take it down._ "

At this, another loaf came out, but this time, Cadet quickly shot a straight line of ink for him to swim in and escaped from any harm.

"Hm," said Cadet as he emerged from the lime ink. "That looks like the same oven Dad have at home!"

He tried to find an aim at the tentacle, but the oven was too large. He couldn't shoot ink in the middle! Suddenly, another loaf came out.

BOOM!

This time, it was successful. Cadet was thrown back. He landed hard on the ground. He looked up as he spotted the machine about to extend ALL of the loaves. His charger was far away from him. Running away was out of the question because the oven was going to fire.

"Oh no, no, no!" said Cadet trying to get away as possible.

He closed his eyes and waited to be splatted. The next thing he saw was the loaf in front of him. He noticed that it was barely moving.

THE OCTO OVEN STOPS WORKING!

" _Donut stop!_ " said Marie. " _You need to keep going before that thing operates again._ "

Cadet quickly grabbed his charger and shot a fine straight line at the wall. He used it to swim up to the top. As he stomped onto the top, he aimed at the tentacle and said, "You're toast."

BANG!

The ink hit the tentacle SO hard that it burst like a water balloon except it was spewing out ink. Not a pretty sight.

Cadet felt the Octo Oven shaking. Something was going to happen. He quickly jumped off the weapon, but he hit the ground on his stomach.

As he groaned and turned around, he noticed that electricity is sparkling the whole weapon. Lime-colored lights were glowing out of the oven. The loaves were popping out, burnt in black. It kept shaking and shaking and shaking and shaking and shaking…until it stopped…and then it…expanded.

KABOOM!

The Octo Oven was no more.

Lime ink flew all over the place with metal pieces and bread crumbs flying in different directions. Cadet was blinded by the lime ink that unfortunately covered his eyes. He wiped the ink off hoping that it was over.

All he could see was the mini Zapfish in the position of where the Octo Oven USED to be. The zapfish purred in happiness and flew to Cadet. It nuzzled his face.

Cadet sighed. Whatever mission he has to do next, it's not going to be easy as he thought.

* * *

Cadet came out of the entrance and much to his surprise; he couldn't find Marie. The sun had already set revealing the night sky. Bright white stars filled the air. The zapfish flew out of his hands and into the fishbowl where it played around with its happy friends. That was when Cadet noticed a power line connected to the fishbowl. Electricity ran through it. The Skull Sniper watched as the voltage ran to a small ball on the edge of the cliff. When it touched, the ball turned into a zip line. It grew long and went straight until it reached out of sight.

" _Good work, Agent 4,_ " said Marie. " _I sure know how to pick 'em. Gotta hand it to the Octarians, though. I didn't expect them to have fully operational octobosses at their disposal._ "

"You can say that again," said Cadet.

" _I think it's time for you to have a partner to help,_ "

"Wait, who?"

"Me."

Cadet froze. He heard Marie's voice but not through his headphones. From BEHIND HIM.

He turned around. In front of him was Marie but not in her kimono. She's now wearing a lime green hat with a squid skull pin on it, a white surgent face mask, a thin lime green jacket, a black shirt, grey leggings and black sneakers. She is even carrying a black and lime backpack. Her hair is now lime green with grey tips.

"You need a partner to help you, right?" said Marie as she whipped out her Hero Charger.

Cadet said nothing. He was surprised by what Marie was doing – and what she's wearing – but he couldn't imagine somebody helping him. For a long time, he works alone with no man's help.

"It's OK," he said. "I don't need…"

"…help," said Marie finishing his sentence. "But I can't let you go around like a coward. You know you can't do this alone. I can't do this alone. Together, we can still save the Great Zapfish!"

Cadet hesitated.

"That's not all; I have called a person to help us analyse our surroundings," said Marie before looking behind. "OK Sheldon, you may come."

"Sheldon?" thought Cadet.

As if on queue, Sheldon appeared. A horseshoe crab-like person appeared.

"Agent 4," said Sheldon. "I'm Sheldon from Ammo Knights; the weapon shop of Inkopolis with over 542 million years of trusted service."

"Yes," said Cadet hastily. "I know you."

"Anyway," continued Sheldon without a breath. "Marie told me everything! I'm honored to help the New Squidbeak Splatoon! I'll stay back here to analyse your surroundings and tell you the best battle strategies. You could come back here to collect the weapons I upgraded. Trust me…you'll need it! OH YEAH! And…"

"OK. Down, boy," interrupted Marie. "I think we get the point."

She looked at Cadet. "OK, Agent 4. It's going to get tougher. No time to take a break now. The zip line will take us to the next stage; the step closer to the Great Zapfish!"

"But it's already night time," said Cadet matter-of-factly.

But Marie didn't listen. She already turned into squid form and got into the zip line; heading to the next stage.

Against his reluctance, he moved his front tentacle bang to the side, adjusted his ponytail and turned into squid form.

"See you later, Sheldon," he said before jumping into the zip line, following Marie.

"Good luck," called Sheldon. "God knows where you need to go!"

* * *

 **AN: God only knows what will happen next to be precise. Anyway, I'm happy to add the Octo Expansion into my story. When I first saw it, I was hyped and excited for it.**

 **Some notes to say; Agent 9 is the male version of Agent 8. I liked how the male octolings look like. I thought maybe I could add in a male octoling.**

 **For those wondering who's General Jus, he's the male version of Agent 3. The Agent 3 in my story will be female, but I wanted to add a male Agent 3 into this story. We will see soon what I have plan for both of them!**

 **I was kind of planning to add in a female Agent 4, but I decided to drop that idea. Sorry about that.**

 **Anyway, keep an eye out for the next chapter. We will take a look at Agent 8's and Agent 9's first test and how Cadet and Marie 'work' together. Also, more surprises to come; there will be a character from Chapter 1 who will play a major role in this story. Can you guess who that 'special' person is?**

 **F.Y.I. ONLY IN THIS STORY; water DOES NOT make Inklings and Octoling dissolve. They can't swim in it.**

 **If you like this story: follow or favorite this story for updates of the story. Make sure to review this chapter on what you thought of this story. I'm OK of hearing improvements from you (please no flames).**

 **Stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	4. Don't Freeze

**AN: Hey there, here is a new chapter. Call me an idiot, but I've noticed that there was only one review for this story. I was a bit disappointed, but I don't mean to rush you to make one. Anyway, enjoy the story.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4 – Don't Freeze**

 **Deepsea Metro Train, Deepsea Metro Facility**

"So we're octolings?" said Agent 9 as they sat on the train.

"Yeah," said Agent 8 after telling 9 about the history of inklings and octolings. "I wonder what it felt like being one though. To Cuttlefish, he said that we lived a rough life as every Octarian must be in the army."

"I guess that's why I felt like I belong to some army."

It was already 3 minutes since they got onto the train, but the two were growing impatient. They didn't know what they have to do to get to the 'promised' land.

"Now I think about it, can you do this?" said Agent 9.

At this, 9 turned into his octopus form. Agent 8 looked down at the small octopus wearing Squidfin Hook Cans.

Agent 8 was a bit confused. Can she do that? Cuttlefish didn't say that inklings and octolings could turn into squid/octopus form. She decided to try it out.

She thought for a while before feeling a bit cold. When she opened her eyes, she found herself looking at the ceiling. She lifted her head and noticed that she turned into her octopus form.

"I guess I could," said 8.

Agent 9 turned back into human form and picked 8 up.

"You look pretty cute," said 9 smiling.

8 blushed. For some reason, she started to nuzzle into 9's chest. The latter made no sign of disturbance and hugged the small octopus.

"That's pretty soft of him," thought 8. "I thought he's a bad boy because of his mohawk. Shouldn't judge a book by its cover."

Suddenly, the door leading to the next carriage opened revealing a small blue slug (wearing a small conductor hat) coming into the wagon.

"Thank you for using Deepsea Metro today," said the slug in a high pitch voice. "I am your humble conductor, C.Q Cumber."

"A talking slug?" said 8 and 9 in unison.

"I'm a SEA CUCUMBER. I take it as your first time riding with us."

C.Q Cumber slid (or bounced) across the floor towards Agent 9. The latter squatted down with 8 in his hands.

"Here's the deal," said the conductor. "We're in a vast underground facility operated by the Kamabo Corporation. It's a series of test chambers connected by the Deepsea Metro subway system. I see that you two are in possession of a CQ-80 device. I take it as your aim to reach the promised land?"

"That's right," said Agent 9. "We want out of here!"

"Understood. The promised land is a paradise to which we denizens of the depths are forbidden. To reach it, you must pass a test at each Deepsea Metro station. You must also find and collect the four thangs. When all four thangs are gathered, the door to the promised land shall open."

Agent 8 felt like laughing. 'Thangs'? Those are the things they need to get to the promised land?

"So all we gotta do is pass some tests and find some thangs and we can go home?" she asked.

"I believe so," said Cumber. "Let me show you to your first test. Please activate your CQ-80."

Agent 8 hopped out of Agent 9's hands, turned back to human form and pulled out her CQ-80. She pressed the joystick and out came a large hologram screen in front of her. It showed a map of the train stations.

"What in the blazes?!" said 9 in amazement.

"This is the Deepsea Metro map," said Cumber. "Go ahead and select a destination."

Agent 8 fiddled the joystick up and pressed on the station above the Deepsea Metro Central Station. It said 'Fake Plastic Station'.

"Very good," said Cumber. "Now departing for the first test."

The train came to a stop. Agent 8 nearly lost her balance.

" _Arriving at Fake Plastic Station,_ " said an intercom as the door opened.

Agent 8 and Agent 9 came onto the station. They looked around. It was surrounded by walls and in front of them was a pad with shoe symbols on them. On the front wall, there's a tap-card gate; one that looked like the one from the train stations.

"At each station, the available weapons will be displayed at the equipper," said Cumber pointing to the pad. "At some tests like this one, you get the choice to use your own weapon or choose a weapon at the equipper. CQ points are required to take each test. We'll grant you 1,000 CQ points to start with. The test fee indicates the number of CQ points needed to take the test. The reward is how many CQ points you will earn for passing the test. To begin the test, you need to pay at the turnstile there. If you don't have enough CQ points to take the points, you need to come back to it."

"So what is this test?" asked Agent 8.

"This test is to get to the goal. When there, you must shoot and then touch the goal. The visibility is quite poor and there will be enemies, so be careful."

Agent 9 scoffed. "Don't worry. I might have amnesia, but I'm still a soldier. I knew it. How bad can it be?"

Agent 8 rolled her eyes as she got to the turnstile (the tap-card gate). She tapped her card on it and the door opened.

"What happened if we fail the test?" asked Agent 8.

"The Kamabo Corporation will activate the exterminate system and they will send an Inkstrike to you. That's very deadly. You don't want to be killed by one," said Cumber. "And one last thing; don't freeze."

"I NEVER freeze," said Agent 9.

"Since when?" whispered Agent 8 as the test started.

3…2…1…GO!

The two octolings jumped into the area, starting the test. They found themselves in a massive area with fake plastic trees.

"What…are…those?" said Agent 9 looking around.

"Man, this subway is weird…" said Agent 8.

They walked through the vast garden until they heard something.

"TAR. GET. AC. QUIR. ED," said a robotic voice.

They looked up. On top of a building was a female octoling soldier wearing shades. But something wasn't right about her. She has sickly green skin and blue hair with green tips.

"Who's that?" said Agent 8.

"I don't know," said Agent 9 dumbly. "She looks…unwell. Maybe we could talk to her."

"DES. TROY," said the sanitized octoling shooting green turquoise ink from her Octo Shot.

SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT!

Agent 8 and 9 quickly dodged the ink. What's going on with that soldier? Was she attacking a fellow Octarian? And why was she speaking in a robotic voice? Something's wrong about her. Very wrong. Something that could be worse than very wrong.

The sanitized solider jumped down and did a full fire. She threw a splat bomb at the two agents.

BOOM!

Agent 8 was hit on the leg. She fell.

"Ow…" said Agent 8 wiping off the ink.

Somehow, even with the ink off, her leg felt weirdly painful. It was cold like DRY ICE. She looked at the ink. The texture looked differently. The ink seemed…different.

The same time when Agent 8 fell, Agent 9 did an impressive back flip and landed on his feet without losing his balance. He quickly fired and pink ink hit the sanitized octoling.

Agent 8 and 9 watched as her ghost flew up into the air and disappear.

"I didn't know you were acrobatic," said 8 impressed.

"I don't know as well," said 9. "But I feel confident."

They traded grins before continuing to venture into the forest. Not before seeing MORE sanitized octolings. Like the one they first witness, their skin was sickly green. Even worse, they had VARIOUS weapons.

"SEEK. AND. DES. TROY," they all said in a robotic voice.

"More trouble!" cried Agent 8 as a sniper shot out a line of ink towards her.

Agent 9 was able to tackle 8 to the ground before the ink nearly splatted her.

"Thanks," 8 said.

"Don't mention it," 9 said.

They got up and started to shoot ink at their foes. They were able to splat some of them. Out of nowhere, a splat bomb came into the middle of the two. They jumped sideways to avoid being in the bomb's explosion but separating them.

"DES. TROY," said the robotic voices again.

Agent 9 heard that and looked up…and regretted looking up. The sanitized soldiers were using Inkjets and firing ink at the poor agent. However, Agent 9 was smart.

He dodged the ink balls and jumped towards the sanitized soldiers in a kick-attack position. Unfortunately, that was when one of the soldiers fired ink.

SPLAT!

Agent 9 was thrown back by the ink's explosion. His body was covered in green turquoise ink and was stinging like dry ice. He fell back. When he looked up, the sanitized soldiers were about to shoot him. He was stuck. He couldn't move.

It stunk.

It really stunk.

There was nothing he could do. There was only one thing left for him to do. Agent 9 sighed and closed his eyes.

BOOM!

There were an explosion and the sanitized soldiers groaning in pain. Agent 9 looked up and saw Agent 8. She had managed to throw a Splat Bomb at the sickly foes.

"You froze," said Agent 8.

Agent 9 glared at her.

As they got up, they heard something. They looked in front to see a flying object floating above a pad.

"That must be the goal!" said Agent 8.

They shot their ink at the goal and it took shape into a pole. They hopped onto the target and a whistle was heard.

"TEST COMPLETED!" said the intercom.

"Well down!" said Agent 9 slapping Agent 8 on the back.

"You did a good job as well," said Agent 8 smiling.

Upon finding a launchpad, they used it to head back to the start where C.Q Cumber greeted them.

"Congratulations, 10,008 and 10,009," said the small conductor. "Now onto the next stage."

As they got onto the train, Cumber said, "Did 10,009 freeze?"

Agent 8 nodded before Agent 9 punched her on the shoulder.

Cumber laughed. "I told you so."

Agent 8 and 9 continued to go through many tests. They were hard and unforgivable. But it was worth it as they were heading close to the first thang.

Throughout the tests, Agent 8 and 9 felt scared. Somehow, every time the sanitized soldiers attacked them, they felt like they are thrown in a trash bin. They felt like they were being mocked.

Agent 8 felt sad about that. Why was she feeling that way? Why did she feel like the universe is against her? Those thoughts and feelings didn't deter her even though she felt tense in her body. Finally, they got to the first thang; the foundation thang.

"Wow!" said Agent 9 as they looked at it. It looked like some black object with buttons on it.

"This looks huge!"

"Well it is," said Agent 8. "But I think we've seen this before. Too bad I couldn't remember where. All I know is that it could lead to fate."

"Whatever fate is, we got to get out of here!"

As they pushed the big thang to the train, Agent 8 frowned. Agent 9 noticed this.

"Are you OK?" asked 9.

"I'm…" said 8. "I'm fine…c…can I be real with you for a moment?"

They stopped. 9 noticed that 8 had tears in her eyes.

"If I'm honest," said 8. "I don't know why I am here. I am scared while going through these tests and even though I lost my memory, I feel like someone is pulling me back. It's like the whole universe is…against me. I…I don't know if I can do this…I feel like something terrible will happen soon…"

9 put his hand on 8's shoulder.

"I'm scared as well," he said sadly. "I don't know why I am here as well. Even when I woke up at first, I was so upset about not knowing who I am that I screamed the hell out of me. It felt very…SEVERE. I don't know why the heck this is all happening, but I promise that we will get out of this dump."

Agent 8 smiled. "Thanks, for…that advice. I thought that you were some kind of…hot-tempered freak but…you are not bad after all…"

Her voice faded as something came over hers and Agent 9's eyes.

* * *

 _"HEY! STOP! PLEASE!" said Agent 8 as she was pushed to the ground._

 _"Ha ha ha! If you want us to stop, then why are you so weak?" mocked the octoling bully._

 _The large group laughed. Agent 8 looked down in tears. Agent 9 growled. His hairstyle was different back then; his hair was tied up in a high ponytail._

 _"You guys pick on someone your own size!" he yelled._

 _"Like you?" said another bully. "A freak with two different eyes?"_

 _"Don't you dare say a word about my eyes."_

 _"Oh…sorry…" said the front bully in mocking sarcasm. "I mean no harm. And if you want respect, why can't you be stronger. Oh, wait. That's right; you two are PATHETICALLY weak."_

 _The jerks laughed as Agent 9 tried to attack them but was again pushed to the ground._

 _Agent 8 watched in sadness. This was one of the days…_

 _One of the days that was unspeakable._

* * *

"What…the…" said Agent 8.

The two agents looked at each other in confusion. One moment, they were in Deepsea Metro and the next moment was being cornered by bullies and the next moment being brought back to reality.

Silence filled the atmosphere.

"Were we…" said Agent 8.

"…BULLIED before?" said Agent 9.

* * *

None of the two octolings said a word as they got back to the Deepsea Metro Central Station.

"You two are da bomb fo rizzle!" said the telephone in excitement. "You got the first thang! Find all four and you will…ERROR…the promised land. Keep on keeping on!"

Agent 8 and 9 were too miserable to be happy at this moment. Ever since they got their first memory, they couldn't shake it out of their head. It remained in their mind like a permanent scar. They walked over to the tent where Cuttlefish was inside. He was sitting down, surrounded by cushions.

"Oh! You're back!" said Cuttlefish before noticing the first thang behind them. "So this is one of the four thangs, eh?"

The octolings nodded.

"These thangs are as weird as this place, but we got to get out of here somehow," said Cuttlefish. "We got to hurry and find three more, but for now, take a rest. On my watch, it's night time. You need rest."

The two agents sat inside the tent. Cuttlefish noticed that they look…inconsolable.

"Are you two OK?" he asked concerned.

"Well…" said Agent 8.

BUZZ!

"Huh?" said Cuttlefish taking out his walkie-talkie which was shaking. "Is this thing working?!"

"Seems to be…" said Agent 9.

"Oho! I hear something! Come in, Agent 3! General Jus! Do you copy?"

" _Mic check, one-two,_ " said a young female voice. " _WHO THE HECK ARE YOU?!_ "

Cuttlefish was taken back. "EXCUSE me?"

" _Pearl!_ " said another female voice (a bit older and elegant). " _Didn't anyone teach you to respect your elders?!_ "

" _That was a bit insulting,_ " said a male voice.

"Huh?" said Cuttlefish confused. "Who am I speaking to? Where is Agent 3 and General Jus? State your names!"

" _Uh, I think I asked you first dude,_ " said the young female voice. " _Anyway, I'm Pearl, but you can call me !_ "

For some reason, she started rapping.

" _My deets? I'm short and sweet!_

 _I spit that fire makes posers perspire!_

 _Step to my game? I'll bring the pain._

 _I've never shaken because I'm OFF THE HOOK!"_

"Oho?" said Cuttlefish. "Check it, kid. Are you stepping to me with a rap battle? MC Craig in the house!"

Rap battle? What does that mean? Agent 8 and 9 looked at each other in confusion; oblivious to rap as Cuttlefish started to rap.

"Call me Captain Cuttlefish, but not because I cuddle fish.

Smooth like butta, bet you wish that you could stunt a flow like this!"

And on they went rapping and rapping and rapping. Agent 8 and 9 continued to stare in confusion. They heard the Calamari Inktation before, but they never heard rapping. All they could say is that it sounded catchy. AND horrible.

" _OK, you two,_ " said the older female voice. " _That's ENOUGH!_ "

" _Aw…_ " said the male voice. " _But it was about to get better!_ "

" _Mr Cuttlefish, was it? We found a radio here and heard your transmission._ "

" _We're currently on Mount Nantai. Where are you calling from?_ "

"Mount Nantai…" said Cuttlefish. "Why that's near Octo Valley! Agent 8, 9 and I were near there, but someone seemed to have taken us deep underground…"

" _I see…_ " said the older female. " _So you and this…Agent 8 and 9 didn't know where you were?_ "

"Almost," said Agent 8. "It's a long story."

They explained how they woke up with no memory, found themselves in a large facility and had to go through tests to get to the promised land.

" _I'm sorry to hear that,_ " said the male voice. " _It must be hard for you to go through various tests to escape…_ "

" _But worry not!_ " said the older female voice determined. " _From now on, you'll have me, Marina – aka DJ_Hyperfresh – supporting you!_ "

" _You even have me; Oro – Master of Dualies, the freshest squid in the world but feel free to call me Gold-Victor!_ " said the male voice.

" _I'll get to work analyzing your surroundings and hopefully I'll be of some help to you!_ "

" _I'll tell you which weapons to choose from and what's the best battle strategies. Trust me; you're going to need them._ "

" _I don't really get what's going on, but hang tight,_ " said Pearl who was not focusing. " _We got you!_ "

"OK," said Cuttlefish. "Anyone who loves rapping is a friend of mine. Thanks for your help! For now, we are going to rest."

" _Take your time!_ " said Oro. " _Call us if you're ready. We will promise to look out for you guys! Be careful out there-_ "

" _OH YEAH!_ " said Pearl as she started rapping again.

" _Pearl!_ " said Marina annoyed before saying something inaudible to Pearl.

" _Sorry…got to go…bye! You two…stop…_ " said Oro before the call ended.

"Well that was some heck…" said Agent 9.

"Oh well," said Cuttlefish.

"Uh," said Agent 8. "I don't mean to be rude but do you have any food for us to have?"

"Oh yes!" said Cuttlefish taking out some food from his bag. "I got some crabby cakes. They are cold, but I think they are fine to eat."

Agent 8 and 9 were given one. They bit into the cold moulded meatball. It tasted good! 8 enjoyed every crispy, savoury taste.

"Thanks for the food," said 9. "I'm grateful for that. I haven't tasted ANYTHING good ever since I had to eat the hard biscuits from the vending machine."

Cuttlefish smiled. "I guess you two octolings aren't so bad after all."

Agent 8 smiled. It was almost the first compliment she heard all this time. But still, she felt like she's getting closer to a horrible end.

Outside the tent, the telephone seemed to be whispering something.

"Oh well done, 10,008 and 10,009. You're closer to get to the promised land…"

* * *

 **Suction-Cup Lookout, 18/06, 9:00 am**

After a long ride on the zip line, Cadet and Marie arrived at Suction-Cup Lookout. Cadet moved his front tentacle bang to the side. The stage looked nice. There were many brick buildings with stickers and some plants surrounding them.

"This place looks nice," said Marie looking around. "I wonder why it's like that. Anyway, we better get moving."

"I say we should split up and meet each other on the boss kettle," said Cadet.

"What? I don't know about that…"

" _Yeah,_ " said Sheldon through their headsets. " _You wouldn't want to work alone._ "

"We could save a lot of time and get to the Great Zapfish earlier," objected Cadet. "Plus, I work better alone."

Marie was silent. By the look in Cadet's turquoise eyes, he didn't like to work as a team, but he seemed to be right.

"OK then," said Marie. "We'll split up. There are 6 zapfishes to save. That means each of us has to save 3 zapfishes."

"Got it," said Cadet nodding.

The Skull Sniper shot a long line of lime ink at one of the entrances. He went in.

The two took their time rescuing the zapfishes alone. Even though they split up, they were able to save several of them.

Then, they only had one more zapfish to save. UNFORTUNATELY, Cadet was already saving that zapfish…and he's in trouble.

He entered Octoling Strike. As he looked around, he noticed that the stage looked similar to the Reef; a map he played in Turf Wars.

"It looks the same," thought Cadet looked around. "Except the shops."

He noticed that the shops didn't have many products. They were only selling gloomy, dark clothes and Octo weapons. Something caught his attention. On the other side of the map was Octolings. They looked like the Inklings, except they had curlier hair with suction cups on them. Oh, and they were wearing Octo Goggles and Shades.

"Octolings!" said Cadet. He knew that Marina on the surface is an Octoling but the Octolings he had to face didn't look friendly.

" _Agent 4!_ " said Sheldon. " _I found 8 zapfishes at this stage. You need to save all 8._ "

"There are 8 zapfishes here," thought Cadet. "Well, that was unexpected."

He shot a long line of lime ink on the ground and swam in it; heading to the zapfishes.

At one of the zapfish cages, there was a ground of Octolings soldiers known as Team B.

"There's an inkling heading towards the zapfishes," said the female leader. "Protect those cages and do not let the zapfish out!"

"How hard could it be?" said a male soldier with the mohawk hairstyle.

"What's that?" said a female soldier with her hair in a ponytail.

They looked in front to see lime ink. That's the ink colour of the New Squidbeak Splatoon.

"Oh, Inkling!" teased the leader hoping that the agent would come out so she could splat it. "Come out where ever you are."

But nothing came out of the ink. The octolings weren't bothered by that.

"It looks like that inkling is too afraid to show itself," said the male soldier. "I heard that the agent here is the new one."

"Hah!" said the female soldier. "I think that coward is too scared. Scared to get splatted like an insect."

The group laughed at this.

TAP! TAP!

"Hmm?" said the octolings hearing something.

SNIPE! SNIPE! SNIPE!

Cadet was able to snipe the octolings from behind them.

"That's how it's done," said Cadet as he broke the cage, freed the Zapfish.

In only a few seconds, he was able to free the other six, but he didn't come close to attack the Octolings. He was still a sniper and could trounce them.

" _Just one more!_ " said Sheldon. " _Keep going!_ "

Cadet moved his front tentacle bang to the side and ran. He found the last zapfish at a corner. As he got closer to the cage, the zapfish seemed to struggle.

"Don't worry," said Cadet. "I won't hurt you. I'm just going to break the cage and-"

Suddenly from behind him, he felt ink splatting on his back. He realized what the zapfish was trying to say.

He was hit, face-first to the ground. He quickly stood up and saw a group of Octolings. Before he could fire, dark fuchsia ink was splatting him from every direction. He couldn't shoot accurately. There's only one thing to do…

RUN!

He quickly shot a long line of lime ink and swam in it. Away from the octolings.

"Agent 4!" said Sheldon. "What are you doing?"

Cadet didn't respond. He has to get to a tall tower so he could snipe his foes out. When he emerged the ink and got to the bottom of the tower, he thought he's safe…

Boy, he was WRONG.

A female octoling soldier jumped down and landed on Cadet; tackling the poor inkling on the ground.

"Augh!" screamed Cadet. He couldn't move. The female octoling was too strong.

"Well, well, well," said the octoling mockingly. "What do we have here? Is this the new agent? Oh, wait; it is. If you are so brave, why are you trying to run away? I bet it's because you're trying to get to your mummy."

The octoling snickered at that joke. Unconsciously, Cadet curled his fists.

"I'm surprised that that blasted Agent 2 recruited a coward for us to sacrifice," continued the female octoling as she pointed her Octo Shot at Cadet's head. "Don't worry. The pain will be over…very soon."

She snickered. Cadet felt himself sweating. His mind went into fight or flight mode. He was going to die. Then out of the blue, he felt his hair sparkled. He knew what that meant.

"Huh?" said the female octoling confused. "Why the-"

But it was too late. Cadet felt his ink tank and charger changing into; the STINGRAY.

His special weapon fired a lime laser at the female octoling before doing a quick turned. He wasn't seeing where he was shooting as his eyes were closed.

But when he opened his eyes, he saw that he splatted the octolings. And the cage was broken. The zapfish gurgled in happiness as it came out and snuggled Cadet followed by the other zapfishes (the ones Cadet saved in this mission), all did the same action.

But this didn't cheer Cadet up.

* * *

"What took you saw long?" asked Marie as the depressed Cadet came out of the entrance.

"Nothing," said Cadet not wanting to talk.

" _Well…_ " said Sheldon, hesitating a bit – for the first time. " _Agent 4 was nearly killed by the octolings back there. He tried to run away._ "

"Agent 4," said Marie. "You were trying to run away?"

"No, no!" said Cadet looking at the other direction. "I was…I was trying to get to a good distance to snipe them down."

"Well, you know that when near enemies, there's no excuse to retreat. You need to get out there and face them FACE-TO-FACE. You have to be a man. Even I have to do it when enemies are too close."

Marie then muttered something under her breath. "I wonder why that agent is acting as a soft kitty."

Cadet was taken back by this. "You know that agents mess up as well!"

"I NEVER said I was perfect," snapped Marie. "This is serious. This is nothing like the turf war battles. This is REAL war. And agents can't back down. If you're so scared, why did you even join in the first place?!"

Cadet was silent. This is much worse than being cornered by the octolings. He remembered that the inklings liked to call him a coward and Marie is disgusted with his cowardice.

"C'mon," said Marie jumping into the boss kettle. "Let's go."

Cadet sighed and followed her. They found themselves in a large platform with bright Japanese-like signs everywhere.

"I wonder what this is," said Cadet looking around as he moved his front tentacle bang to the side.

"There's the zapfish!" said Marie pointing to the zapfish trapped in a bubble above the dark fuchsia ink.

" _Um…_ " said Sheldon. " _I found an Octarian spawn point around here._ "

Suddenly, an octopus tentacle grabbed the zapfish and pulled it into the ink.

"Oh, no," said Cadet. "Not again."

A huge light shined from the ink. This time, both Cadet and Marie covered their eyes. Once the dramatic entrance was over, what they saw made their mouth drop.

It was a LARGE MUSCULAR octoling, wielding a Dynamo Roller and riding on a unicycle.

" _It's the Octo Samurai!_ " said Sheldon. " _Smoke this clown, you two. For the honour for your friends. Your family. Your g…_ "

"OK, Sheldon," said Cadet quietly as he looked at the Octo Samurai in disgust. "We get the picture."

The Octo Samurai got in close and smashed the ground with its Dynamo Roller nearly harming Cadet and Marie.

"How do we destroy that thing?!" said Cadet.

"Just shoot at it!" said Marie.

They used their chargers to cover the Octo Samurai in lime ink. It was taking harm, but it was not enough.

"Well," said Cadet as he pulled out a Splat Bomb. "I guess next time, we should get a roller."

He threw the bomb at the Octo Samurai. The explosion splatted the large beast. The two agents watched as its ghost flew in the air.

"I'm glad that's over," said Marie.

Suddenly, Cadet heard a noise. He looked at the ground. The unicycle started to turn into a SPAWN POINT.

"It's not over!" said Cadet. "Shoot at the tentacle!"

They both shot at the tentacle, making the spawn point let out a geyser of dark fuchsia ink. It started to lose power.

"Is it over?" said Marie looking at the spawn point.

The Octo Samurai's ghost came into the spawn point and respawned. Despite how big it was, it came out with ease and grabbed Marie.

"Hey!" said Marie as her charger fell out of her hands.

Holding Marie in one hand and the Dynamo Roller in the other, the Octo Samurai got back onto the unicycle and charged towards Cadet. It made a swing attack.

SWUNG!

Cadet flew in the air and landed hard on the ground.

He got up trembling but with his charger in his hands. Without second thoughts, he shot at the Octo Samurai…or at least he thought so.

"Hey!" said Marie as she spat the lime ink out from her mouth. "Watch where you are shooting!"

Cadet ignored her and continued to shoot at the Octo Samurai, but it was making it difficult for him. It was making a lot of attacks with its roller so Cadet had to move back so he could fire at a distance. Finally, he threw a splat bomb at the Octo Samurai.

BOOM!

With the Octo Samurai splatted, Marie was free. The unicycle turned back once more to the spawn point.

" _Shoot the tentacle!_ " said Sheldon. " _One last time!_ "

They shot at the tentacle causing it to burst. The spawn point started to shake unusually. The Octo Samurai's ghost was trying to respawn in that, but nothing worked. The spawn point was smoking. It was glowing lime green. Finally, it expanded.

KABOOM!

An explosion of lime ink flew everywhere. This time, Cadet put his arm over his eyes thus avoiding his eyes being hit by the lime ink.

"Man," said Marie as she shook the lime ink off her. "That was kind of insane. Great work, Agent 4."

Cadet nodded and took the zapfish.

* * *

 **AN: Well I hope that you enjoy this chapter. Also, the story is at 200 views! Not bad.**

 **The chapter's title is inspired by a Marvel Movie. Can you guess where it comes from?**

 **Also, Oro makes a special surprise; he will play a major role in helping Agent 8, 9 and Cuttlefish to escape! Unlike in the game, I decided to make C.Q Cumber a bit more nicer.**

 **If you like this story: follow or favorite this story for updates of the story. Make sure to review this chapter on what you thought of this story. I'm OK of hearing improvements from you (please no flames).**

 **Keep your eyes open for the next chapter!**


	5. Identification Revealed

**Chapter 5 – Identification Revealed**

As Cadet placed the zapfish in the fishbowl, the next zip line to the next stage opened up.

"Well the Great Zapfish isn't here, so let's get going," said Marie. "Maybe it's just me, but the Octarian bases feel like they've been given a feminine TOUCH. Maybe they got a new decorator?"

"I guess they did," said Cadet nodding.

" _…Ruh…_ "

"Huh?" said Cadet. "Was that you Marie?"

"What are you talking about?" said Marie.

" _…Ruh…Lea…No…_ " said a mysterious voiced through their headset.

"What?" said Marie. "This radio's on the fritz. I swear I just changed the batteries in this thing."

" _Aaaactually, there is likely radio interference in Octo Canyon!_ " said Sheldon matter-of-factly. " _All the junk around there is probably giving off electro-static! See, a lot of consumer products use a frequency called the CPOD band! Microwave ovens are PRIME culprits. In fact, MY microwave…_ "

"Kshhhh!" said Marie. "You're breaking up, Sheldon. Kshhhh! We're going through a tunnel in an elevator. Kshhhh! My headset has a low battery. Kshhhh!"

" _Uh…Mar-_ "

BEEP! Marie and Cadet both turned off their headset. The 'my headset has low battery' trick. Always work every time.

"Let's get going," said Marie.

Suddenly, they heard a loud growl. Cadet quickly held up his charger in attack position. There was something around them. However, he felt the growl in his stomach.

"Uh…" said Marie. "I think it might have come from YOU."

Cadet heard the growl again. He looked down to listen to his stomach growling. Cadet winced. He hadn't eaten anything ever since he came to Octo Canyon. He hadn't even had dinner yesterday nor breakfast this morning. He was hungry. And by the look on her face, so was Marie.

"I agree with your stomach," said Marie. "We need to EAT."

She took out something from her bag. "Luckily, I brought along some deep-fried prawns and salad sandwiches with us. They were leftovers from the Crust Bucket."

They sat down at nearby one of the brick buildings. Cadet picked up one of the fried prawns.

"Agent 4," said Marie. "I think you need to take off your…"

Before Marie could finish talking, Cadet lifted a bit of his bandanna (but his mouth was unseen) and placed the prawn in his mouth.

"Oh…"

As Cadet munched his food, a question came in his mind.

"So Marie," he said. "Apart from your band AND agent career, what do you do in life?"

"Well," said Marie slowly. "I usually do like what you guys do in your free time. With my cousin – Callie – we got out of the apartment and disguised ourselves in casual clothes. We went to shopping malls, restaurants, tourist attractions and hikes. It had been great…but we haven't hung out with each other for a while…"

Marie's giddy smile turned into a despair frown. Cadet noticed it. Was it because…

"Anyway," said Marie quickly changing the subject. "Let's talk about YOU."

"Me?" said Cadet.

"You're Cadet Classy, aren't you?"

Cadet was shocked. "How did you know about my name?"

"Well while I was waiting for you, I looked on Splatnet to search you up. I found your Turf War ranks and stuff."

"Oh," thought Cadet. "I forgot that people could see each other's info on Splatnet."

"So you're known as the Skull Sniper, right?" said Marie.

Cadet nodded.

"I'm pretty impressed of you," said Marie. "You are in X Rank and one of the best snipers around. You even have an E-Liter 4K Scope!"

Cadet was dumbfounded. He usually got compliments for inklings on the surface, but NEVER in his dreams would he imagine a celebrity praising him.

"So I guess I'm 'popular' around here," said Cadet sarcastically.

"Well, you have some fans, do you?" asked Marie.

"Not really…"

"On that profile, there's a comment from a random squid saying that you NEVER take off your bandanna. Why's that?"

Cadet hesitated but spoke anyway. "Good question. I don't know the answer to that as well. It's just that…I don't feel comfortable taking it off. I found that it's my comfort to hide my face from the crowd. I only take it off when I'm at home…or at least when I can find a home."

"What do you mean?" asked Marie.

"Well my dad is moving back to Squidney, and I need to find a place to stay in Inkopolis."

"Why can't you join along with your father? I know that most inklings live by themselves – even at the age of 14 – but shouldn't you be supporting your dad?"

"Well, …it's because of my new job I started a while ago. I worked at a charity place where the company set out projects to help the needy. I…I felt like a part of the team there unlike when being outside."

"Outside? What makes you feel undesirable outside in Inkopolis?"

"…It's…nothing…"

"I hope that you could find a place to stay. You could stay at my place."

"Thanks, but no thanks."

Cadet could have said yes, but something made him refused the offer.

Something that always brings him down.

* * *

 **Deepsea Metro Facility**

Agent 8 and 9 finished a test as they flew back to the train station.

"Well that was hard," said Agent 9 wiping off the sweat from his brow.

"Yeah," said Agent 8 shivering. For the past few tests, she felt scared. She always thought that she wouldn't be able to make it.

" _Guys,_ " said Marina. " _I found that those Octarians that attacked you didn't have any signs of life._ "

"So…they are dead?" said Agent 8.

" _I believe so. Something happened to them._ "

Agent 8 and 9 shuddered at this thought. Something happened to those sanitized Octarians. They continued their next test; the No Whammy Station.

"For this test, you can't use your weapons," said C.Q Cumber. "You must use an ink cannon to defend an orb that is under attack. If you fail to protect the orb, then you fail the test."

The two agents gulped as they began the test. They use the launchpad to fly to the ink cannon. They looked at the scene through the glass window. There was a platform with a pink orb in the middle. Cannons surround the orb. When they got into position, the test started.

" _You must protect the orb from enemy attacks!_ " said Oro. " _One of you must look out for missiles coming from the cannons, and the other must keep watch of the orb if any missiles get too close. You could recover the orb by shooting it with your ink._ "

"I'll take down the missiles," said Agent 9. "8, you keep watch of the orb."

"Octomissile inbound – up to the right!" said Marina.

Agent 9 turned his ink cannon to the Octomissile coming from the right. He pressed the trigger.

BOOM!

"Octomissile incoming from the left!" said Pearl.

9 quickly turned his ink cannon to the left and shot the Octomissile coming from the right. At this, MORE Octomissiles flew to the orb from every direction including OCTOZEPPELINS.

It was madness. More cannons were appearing shooting more missiles. It got harder with Agent 9 trying to fire every missile while Agent 8 was struggling to protect the orb. It was hit multiple times as Agent 8 wasn't able to catch up with fast bullets.

"Darn it!" cursed Agent 9.

Agent 8 looked at 9's face. Something was wrong with him. His left purple eye was glowing…red. And his hands…they were glowing red. Something was wrong. VERY wrong.

" **DON'T JUST STAND THERE!** " snapped Agent 9. " **SHOOT!** "

That was when Agent 8 realised that she was off duty of protecting the orb. It was taking a lot of damage and was on low health. She tried to take down an incoming Octozeppelin, but she missed the tentacle.

"No, NO, **NO!** " screamed Agent 8.

Luckily, the time was up. They passed the test.

"Oh. My. **COD!** " said Agent 9.

" _Whew,_ " said Marina. " _That was close._ "

As they got back to the station, Agent 8 noticed that 9 looked upset. Both of his eyes are glowing red. His hands are still glowing red.

"Sorry…" said 8.

"Don't say 'sorry' to me," hissed 9.

"But I was trying my best," said 8 firmly despite not wanting to let 9 to be set off. "You know this test is hard and YOU couldn't shoot some of those missiles.

9 growled. "I'm…I'm just a bit on edge. It's just that…I don't want to fail a test. I'm just being sick of being here! If we want to get out, failure is NOT an option!"

Suddenly, something went over their eyes…

* * *

 _"C'mon," said Agent 9. "Just only a few more minutes."_

 _It was three months after their 15th birthday, and Agent 8 and 9 joined the Octarian Army. It was hard but it was worth it. At least they knew how to be stronger. Not really._

 _Agent 9 was able to do almost all the battle techniques, but not 8. It wasn't her first time to fail practice. She failed in nearly every way it was possible for a soldier to fail. She fell when she was supposed to catch weapons. She would be stunned of shooting her Octo Shot. She would collapse under the weight of the Octobrush. She wouldn't land on her feet when jumping great heights. She would trip, slip and fall face-first in the most humiliating way ever. However, she mastered shooting. At least she was good at SOMETHING._

 _Agent 8 was tired of the practice she did today. She had to learn how to swing the Octobrush onto enemies, but she made a little effect. She would always fall backwards by the weight of the Octobrush._

 _After the long, hard practice, Agent 9 helped Agent 8 to get up. 9 had changed his hairstyle ever since he joined the army. He was forced to have the mohawk hairstyle (which he is trying to get used to it)._

 _"Thanks," 8 said._

 _It was hard work. Every day was hard work. But that was until the day that was the hardest of all._

 _Agent 8 and 9 were assigned to stop Agent 3 and General Jus from freeing the zapfish. They were both given goggles to wear._

 _"Ok," said Agent 9 as they guarded the zapfish cage. "If any of those agents come close, show no mercy."_

 _Agent 8 looked at the zapfish in the cage. It was frowning and struggling to get out. It was gurgling sadly._

 _"I wonder we are doing this…" said Agent 8 as she looked at the innocent zapfish._

 _"I wonder too…" said Agent 9._

 _"What's up?" said a voice._

 _They looked around and they saw Agent 3; a female 16-year old inkling with dark brown skin and turquoise eyes. She has two long hair tentacles hanging from both sides of her ears that are lime with dark purple tips. Her eyes are turquoise. She wears the Hero Headset, Hero Jacket and Hero Snowboots._

 _She pointed her Hero Shot 1.0 at the two octolings. She seemed firm. "I don't want to cause trouble, but step away from the zapfish."_

 _Agent 9 gritted his teeth. "Not a chance."_

 _He fired his Octo Shot at the inkling agent, but she was quick. She jumped away from the flying dark fuchsia ink._

 _It was a very intense battle. Unfortunately, it seemed that Agent 3 was winning because of how agile she was. She was able to bring Agent 8 to the ground, and at gunpoint._

 _"No!" said Agent 9 quickly running towards Agent 3 and pushed her. As she got up, she saw that Agent 9 was defending Agent 8 as if the inkling was going to fire._

 _Much to the octolings' surprise, Agent 3 hesitated. She didn't dare to pick up her Hero Shot 1.0. She opened her mouth, but another inkling came flying towards them. It was General Jus; a male 15-year old inkling with tan skin and red eyes. His hair is tied up in a ponytail that is lime and has crimson pink tips. He wears the same clothes as Agent 3 except that he wears a Paintball Mask (with a lime green visor)._

 _Using his Hero Charger, he shot a line of ink at Agent 9. It had some harm on 9 but wasn't enough to kill him. It only knocked him out._

 _Jus aimed his charger at Agent 8. 8 – scared – put her hands in the air. As Agent 3 freed the zapfish from its cage, Jus said, "Let's go."_

 _He gave Agent 8 a glare before running off. Agent 3 looked at the poor inkling and mouthed 'sorry' before running off._

 _It was an eventful day for Agent 8 and 9. The two were surprised by Agent 3's reluctance of harming them. They were told that inklings are selfish and mean creatures who only think about themselves, but Agent 3 hesitated…not wanting to fight._

 _The worst part of the mission was the end. The Octoling General was so mad at Agent 8 and 9 for failing to protect the zapfish they had to guard that she yelled at them…in front of some octoling soldiers back at the Headquarters - another tongue-lashing._

 _" **HOPELESS!** " screamed the Octoling General. " **YOU CALL YOURSELF A SOLDIER?!** "_

 _"But, sir," said Agent 8._

 _" **QUIET!** "_

 _At this, the Octoling General smacked 8 in the face. This caused her to fall._

 _" **No butts!** " ranted the General. "Don't try to make excuses. No explanations. Failure is not an option to the army."_

 _Agent 8 and 9 felt down. Being screamed at was worse, but being shouted at in front of the public was worse. It was everyday blues. The octoling soldiers laughed again._

 _"Why does this happen?" thought Agent 9. "Why can't we be strong? We got this far to be strong, but we failed. Fail, fail, fail. Now we are known as weak to everyone."_

 _The General noticed 8's and 9's disappointment in themselves. She looked at the soldiers._

 _"You are dismissed," she said to the soldiers._

 _Once the laughing soldiers went away, the General looked at Agent 8 and 9._

 _"Listen," she said. "I may be a woman of my own words, but I can't have a soldier who always fails NOR one who always look down on themselves."_

 _Agent 8 looked up. Agent 9 was having a few tears._

 _"Now don't cry to me," said the General. "But if it's those jerks, suck it up. You can't always listen to them. You need to PROVE THEM WRONG. You can't be weak. If you do, you'll be a man's food. If you can't take it, take REVENGE on them. And to do that…KILL them."_

* * *

Agent 8 and 9 quickly snapped out from their remembrance. They remembered; they were in the Octarian army. They stared at each other for a long time in silence.

"What the…" said 8.

"Did that…" said 9. "…happened before?"

8 thought and put the pieces together. "I guess so…you said you were in an army once…and we both were."

* * *

Again, they were silent as they headed back to the Deepsea Metro Central Station on the train. They got the surrounding thang, but they were lost in own thoughts. This time, Agent 8 decided to speak.

"So…" she said. "You were better than me."

"Yeah," said Agent 9 sadly. "But not enough."

Agent 9 looked slowly at 8. "8…I want to say that I'm…sorry for lashing out at you. I was just…angry."

8 smiled, patting 9's back. "It's OK."

8 noticed that 9's left eye was turning back to his normal purple eye color.

"How come his eye changes color?" she thought. "Maybe it was something when he was born?"

She took a deep breath and spoke. "9, how come your left eye turns from purple to red? Was it something that happened to you before?"

Agent 9 was surprised by this, but he didn't like to hear THAT kind of question. He was about to snap when he remembered that he just apologized a few seconds ago.

"I…it's nothing…" said Agent 9 gruffly. "Now don't talk about my eyes again."

"No, no, no," said Agent 8 quickly. "It's just that…I was wondering about them. I like how your eyes are; two different beautiful colors."

9 shook his head sadly. "I don't like it. I just kind of wish I have normal eyes."

"What about your hands? Why do they glow red?"

9 stared blankly. "I'm not sure. I didn't know what happened."

They looked at the surrounding thang. They hadn't thought about its appearance. It looked like a giant mug.

"So those four thangs come in different shapes and sizes," said 8.

"They look like parts of something…" said 9 trying to think what the thangs would be made up if all combined. "I can't quite ascertain what, though."

"I don't know what it is, but my mind misgives some consequences – written in the stars – shall end our journey AND our lives."

Agent 9 looked at Agent 8 bewildered. "When did you thought of THAT?"

"Um…I don't know…but I feel it will happen too soon," said Agent 8.

They heard the carriage door that led to the next carriage opened. They looked up to see a giant male isopod wearing sunglasses, a gold neck chain and a black leisure suit.

"Who's that?" said 9.

"I don't know," said 8 standing up. "But I'm curious to know who he is."

9 tried to tell her not to, but 8 went towards the giant isopod. Reluctantly, 9 got up and followed her. That was when the isopod spoke.

"Beg your pardon, young squires," he said. "Who are you?"

"Ah," said Agent 8. "I'm Agent 8 and next to me is Agent 9."

"I'm just wondering. Forgive me if I caught you off guard."

"It's OK," said Agent 9. "We are just heading back to the central station. And who are you?"

"They call me Iso Padre," said the isopod. "That's not my name, mind you, but it's the only one I recall now."

"So you're a test subject?"

"Yes, indeed once."

That was when Agent 8 noticed some little toys next to him.

"What are those, Mr Padre?" asked 8.

"Well down here," said Iso. "We call those thin slices of memory; mem cakes. I spent an age or two here in the depths, hungry for them. They're my only link left to recall my memories. I got all of them, but some of them didn't help. I could offer you one so that you could recall yours."

"What 'mem cakes' don't you need?"

"Well, I got some mem cakes resembling some weapons. I don't recall using weapons. You can have them."

"But don't you need them?" said Agent 9.

"Not really," said Iso. "Feel free to have one."

Agent 8 looked through the mem cakes. There were a lot of them.

"I would like to have this one please," she said pointing to a splat bomb mem cake. It was pink in color and it has a rope on it.

"Here you go," said Iso giving her the mem cake.

"What is the rope for?" said Agent 9.

"Ah, that mem cake can be used as a necklace."

"It looks nice," said Agent 8 gratefully. "Thanks for the mem cake."

"Anytime, young squires. Have a safe trip."

The train stopped. Agent 8 and 9 looked out the window. They were back at the central station.

"See ya," they said leaving Iso Padre.

As Agent 9 pushed the surrounding thang out into the station, Agent 8 put on the mem cake necklace.

"It looks nice on you," said Agent 9.

"It does," said Agent 8. "I like this splat bomb mem cake."

"I remember that bombs are your favourite weapons. You said that they are light to carry."

Agent 8 looked at the mem cake. Then she said, "Closer to pyramids than spheres, let fly the bombs! A sigh, then calm. A pillow stained with ink – or tears."

Agent 9 was surprised. "When did you thought of that phrase?"

Agent 8 shook her head. She didn't know she was saying that OUT LOUD. "Oh, …it's some poem…that came to mind. It might be one…I must have written before."

The two agents smiled. They were starting to recall some memories.

" _SLAMMING!_ " said the telephone making them jump a bit. " _You have found the second thang! That is half of them. You are one bad mama jama…Rock on!_ "

"Wow," said Agent 8. "That phone is excited about those thangs."

As they put the surrounding thang next to the foundation thang, they heard some noises.

" _I swear Cuttlefish,_ " said Pearl's voice from the tent. " _If you try to splat Marina, **I WILL CUT YOU LIKE A FISH! YOU GOT THAT?!**_ "

"Um…OK," said Cuttlefish.

"What's going on?" said Agent 8 as she came in.

"Oh," said Cuttlefish as 8 and 9 came into the tent. "I was able to face chat with Pearl, Marina and Oro!"

Agent 8 and 9 looked at Cuttlefish's phone showing a live face chat with Pearl, Marina and Oro. This was the first time they ever saw them…saw their appearance of course. Not face to face in real life.

Pearl is a female inkling with light peach skin, gold eyes and has her hair in a bob wig hairstyle. Her hair is white and has pink tips. She wears a golden, jeweled crown, a long, golden chain necklace with a four-point star symbol pendant around her neck, multiple golden rings on her fingers on both of her hands, a pastel pink, baggy hoodie with cream sleeves, and rainbow metallic platform shoes.

Marina is a female octoling with dark brown skin, light green eyes and have octopus hair which is black and have turquoise tips. She wears a white head bandana, black headphones with turquoise rings, a long, silver chain necklace with an '8' symbol pendant, a black wristwatch and black chain bracelet on her right arm, a white turtleneck crop top, sea-foam colored capris, and silver bowed grey-white shoes.

In the middle was Oro; a male Inkling with light skin, green eyes and has his hair in a spiked-comb back hairstyle. His hair is mint green with golden tips. He wears white and black headphones around his neck, a long, gold chain necklace with a diamond symbol pendant, black finger-less gloves, a shiny white jacket, a gold shirt with a mint green stripe across it, ripped black trackies and light gold sneakers with purple laces.

The three seemed to be inside a studio with many computers and monitors around.

" _Hello there,_ " said Marina.

"Oh," said Agent 8. "Hi there,"

That was when Agent 9 noticed something. "Marina, you're an…OCTOLING too?!"

Marina was surprised. " _Of course! And I think I remember you two before!_ "

"You do?" said Agent 8 and 9 in unison.

" _Yes! I remember you two in the Octarian Army. I always saw you walking past my workshop, remember?_ "

When she said that, the two agents remembered.

"I…I do remember," said Agent 8.

"Yeah," said Agent 9. "Every time we saw you, you gave a friendly wave. Now that I thought about it, do you remember what our names are?"

Marina looked at them blankly. " _I've got no idea. I'm sorry. To tell you the truth, I haven't seen you for so long. I…ran away from the Octarian society two years ago. I haven't seen any other Octarians ever since._ "

"Oh," said Agent 8 in obvious disappointment. "By the way, I think I remembered what happened when you disappeared. Your friends were anxious about you. Were the inklings nice to you?"

" _Oh yes,_ " said Marina in dreamy happiness. " _The inklings I met were super nice. I've even become a famous artist in Inkopolis!_ "

"You?" said Agent 9 surprised. "You became an ARTIST? You mean a singer?"

" _Well yes! I'm in a band called 'OFF THE HOOK'. I'm the DJ._ "

" _And I'm the rapper!_ " said Pearl.

When 8 noticed Oro hadn't said anything yet, she said, "Oro, aren't you part of the band?"

Oro laughed. " _Nah. Only these two. I only helped them in editing music. I've known Pearl for a long time, so I've been close to Off the Hook._ "

"So you're more of a friend to them, aren't you?" said Agent 9.

" _You can say that._ "

At this, Agent 8 felt like there's something she needed to say. "Do you think the inklings will accept us?"

" _ARE YOU KIDDING?_ " said Pearl. " _Of course they will! It is rare for an Octoling to be in Inkopolis. I say that everyone will love you!_ "

" _Yeah!_ " agreed Oro. " _I think you look fresh. Your hairstyles look awesome! I kind of wish I had the mohawk one._ "

" _They would_ ," said Marina. " _When the inklings first saw me, they became a bit attracted to me. On our first performance, the critics called me 'the tall exotic-looking girl'._ "

Crickets.

It was completely silent until Agent 8 and 9 started laughing loudly.

"Do you think we look 'exotic'?" said Agent 8 wiping tears from laughing too hard.

" _To be honest,_ " said Pearl. " _Yes._ "

* * *

 **AN: And there we wrap up this chapter. Just to note that during the flashback, Agent 3 and General Jus aren't wearing the Hero Sneakers. I don't really like how the shoes are designed so I replaced them with the Hero Snowboots. Sorry if anyone likes the Hero Sneakers. If anyone is wondering why Red's eye can change color and he can glow red, you have to find out soon.**

 **I used a special Shakespeare quote in this chapter; can you find where it it?**

 **If you like this story: follow or favorite this story for updates of the story. Make sure to review this chapter on what you thought of this story. I'm OK of hearing improvements from you (please no flames).**

 **Until next time, keep on rocking.**


	6. Secrets Revealed

**AN: I'm back! We are halfway through our story! Hope you guys enjoy it!**

* * *

 **Chapter 6 – Secrets Revealed**

 **Beaker's Depot, 12:08 am**

Cadet and Marie arrived at Beaker's Depot. They looked around. The stage resembled a harbor port.

"OK," said Marie. "Like what we did last time, split up and then we'll meet up for the boss kettle."

Cadet nodded. It would've been a piece of cake, but there were new obstacles. In one of them – Octoseeker Shakedown – he was nearly killed.

As he entered the mission, he noticed that everything was a bit dark.

"Talk about mood lighting. This place is creeptastic," he said as he moved his front tentacle bang to the side.

He went off, fighting Octarians and finding ways to get closer to the zapfish. Unfortunately, he was in trouble.

As he rode on a zip line, Sheldon said, " _Octoseekers spotted. Don't let them find you, Agent 4!_ "

"Octoseekers?" said Cadet, but he gasped to see an Octoseeker.

It was a massive flying machine with a dark fuchsia bottom. It was patrolling an area, going left to right. Cadet gulped. He didn't know much about Octoseekers, but he didn't want to find out what they do to their victims.

Shooting a fine line of ink, he used it to swim in it. That was when the Octoseeker turned around. Cadet swam faster. TOO fast.

But it was too late.

The Octoseeker saw ripples flying from Cadet. It started to come closer to him.

"CARP!" screamed Cadet turning back into his human form and started running. He was about to get up a building, but the Octoseeker struck.

BANG!

The Octoseeker fell and crushed Cadet.

The next thing Cadet knew was that he was re-spawned at the nearest spawn point.

He shuddered. He faced many deaths in Turf War Battles, but this one only gave him limited lives.

Despite the thought of being killed by Octoseekers, he kept going. There's no way he was going to stop. Finally, he was one step closer to the zapfish.

"Ugh…" said Cadet looking ahead. "An Octoseeker is guarding the zapfish."

He was right. It was going over the narrow platform where the launchpad was; the one that would take Cadet to the zapfish! Using his best sneak skill, he shot a long line of ink at the launchpad when the Octoseeker wasn't looking. He swam in it, but it was too late. It spotted him.

BANG!

Cadet was re-spawned back at the nearest spawn point, a few meters from the launchpad.

"Ow…" said Cadet before looking at the launchpad. "Hell! The spawn point is out of power! Oh no, no, no!"

If he dies again, he will die LITERALLY.

"Can't fail this…" he thought as he crept towards the launchpad. "I can't let this happen again…"

Unfortunately, the Octoseeker spotted Cadet. It reared in for another smash.

"NO!" screamed Cadet trying to run.

BANG!

It smashed to the ground. This time, Cadet was able to get to the side before he got squashed. He got slight damages. The Octoseeker went up giving Cadet the time to use the launchpad.

He still couldn't believe he nearly died.

* * *

Marie was waiting for Cadet. As he got out from one of the entrances, he looked tired.

"You're OK?" said Marie.

"Could have been better…" groaned Cadet.

"You can get your beauty sleep later. For now, we got to get going."

Cadet sighed. He noticed that Marie was acting more hasty than usual. Something wasn't right, he saw. He knew why Marie was rushing, but he couldn't put his finger on it yet. He would have to find out later.

They entered the boss kettle where they found themselves in a grey landscape.

"This is a bit creepy," said Cadet looking around.

They saw the zapfish above the ink, but what happened last time, an octopus tentacle snatched the zapfish into the ink. A huge light shined again. They saw something coming out.

"This again," said Marie. "Wait…could it be the…"

The Octo Boss revealed to be a sizable robotic cube with a large Octotrooper face on it and two feet.

"Wait, I know this guy!" said Marie. "It's Octostomp!"

" _But didn't Agent 3 and General Jus take him down two years ago?_ " said Sheldon.

"Oh no," said Cadet.

The Octostomp was coming towards them…fast. And it fell on its face.

SPLAT!

When it fell, it nearly crushed Cadet and Marie.

"Shoot the tentacle up on the top!" said Marie.

"Got it!" said Cadet inking one of the sides.

He swam up to the top of the Octostomp and shot the tentacle. It burst, letting out a geyser. However, the Octostomp was shaking.

Before Cadet had a chance to jump, the Octostomp got back on its feet. This caused Cadet to fly through the air and landed on the ground head-first.

Marie looked at Cadet. He was knocked out. She heard the Octostomp whirring back to life. This time, an armor covered it.

" _Unthinkable…_ " said Sheldon. " _His armour is completely uninkable!_ "

"Got to hand it to those Octarians," said Marie. "They sure do know how to go big."

Cadet quickly woke up and stood up.

"Ow…" he said.

That was when a shadow loomed over him. It was the Octostomp…and it was going to crush him.

"Cadet!" said Marie. "Watch out!"

Even though Marie was behind the Octostomp, she could see the Octostomp falling onto Cadet.

"GYAHHH!" screamed Cadet as he crushed.

"Cadet!" screamed Marie.

The Octostomp got up and turned to its next victim. Maire – however – was able to shoot the buckle of the armour, letting it came off. Without thinking twice, the Octostomp face-planted in front Marie which she just dodged just in time.

She quickly inked the side, swam up to the top and shot the tentacle.

BOOM!

"And that was for killing Cadet!" she yelled as she jumped off the Octostomp as it sputtered ink.

"I'M STILL ALIVE!" yelled a familiar voice when Marie landed.

It turned out; the Octostomp NARROWLY missed Cadet as he crushed. Marie looked down to see Cadet.

"Oh," she said sheepishly as Cadet got up. "I thought you became a flat Skull Sniper!"

"Flat?!" said Cadet upset.

" _Guys!_ " yelled Sheldon. " _You got to defeat the Octostomp one more time!_ "

"Eh?" said Cadet and Marie in unison not noticing the Octostomp behind them, came towards them and about to face-plant on them not only with its armor but with TWO MORE FACES.

SPLAT!

The Octostomp landed on its faces, missing Cadet and Marie. They both fell down.

"That was close!" said Cadet trembling as they got up.

"GAH!" screamed Marie as the Octostomp stood up. "This dude grew TWO MORE FACES!"

The Octostomp reared in for another smash.

"We can't dodge on the sides!" said Marie. "Dodge backwards."

They jumped backwards as the Octostomp face-planted in front of them. When it got up, Cadet used the advantage to shoot the buckle causing the armor and the extra faces to come off.

"That's it!" said Marie. "Ink him up!"

When the Octostomp came in and faceplanted again, Cadet and Marie inked the sides, swam up and burst the tentacle.

"Booyah!" said Cadet as they jumped off the Octostomp.

As they landed, electricity sparkled the whole weapon. Lime-coloured lights were glowing out of the oven. The legs were spinning around. It kept shaking and then…it expanded.

BOOM!

"The Octostomp is destroyed once and for all," said Marie.

* * *

Cadet and Marie watched as a new zip line grew and led to another stage far ahead.

"Cadet," said Marie. "I want to thank you again for all the help you did so far."

Cadet smiled and moved his front tentacle bang to the side. Still, the bandanna hid his smile.

Marie sighed sadly. Cadet noticed something.

"Are you OK?" Cadet asked.

"I think it's time I told you about my other purpose in asking for your help," said Marie. She hesitated.

"Let it spill."

"OK. When we met, I told you I was searching for the Great Zapfish. But I'm afraid that's NOT the whole story. You see…Even more than the Great Zapfish, I want to find my cousin Callie. She vanished on the same day as the Great Zapfish!"

Cadet was shocked. Not because of hearing that Callie was missing. But because Marie was looking for Callie. That's why Marie was acting a bit hasty and bossy to the Skull Sniper.

"I…," said Cadet. "I already knew."

"Wait…" said Marie. "You already knew? Phew. Cool. So anyway. I'm Agent 2 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon, and Callie is Agent 1. Then there's Agent 3 and General Jus, who are currently out with our grandpa, Captain Cuttlefish. They won't be back for a while…"

Marie's voice was getting wavy. "I…I was…supposed to be protecting Inkopolis while the Captain was away, but then…Callie…the Great Zapfish…I hadn't seen my dear cousin for so long…even before the Great Zapfish raid…"

"Was it…because of the last Splatfest," said Cadet. "The one you won?"

Marie nodded. "Yes. After the Splatfest, we were going on our solo careers. We hadn't seen each other for a while…I…I shouldn't have left Callie. I should have stayed with her! I should have…"

Marie had tears in her eyes. Cadet was silent. So far, Marie was continually pushing him to quickly save the Zapfish and always telling him to face fear, endangering his life. But here was Marie, weeping for her long-lost cousin. And for Cadet, he suffered almost every day being alone and hiding in the shadows…wanting to be unseen and someday to have a friend. He put his hand over Marie's shoulder.

"Don't worry," he said. "I'll help you to find Callie and we'll get you two back together…Just how the Squid Sisters are supposed to be."

Marie smiled and hugged him. Cadet was shocked. He was barely given a hug by anyone…let alone…a celebrity. Sure he was given hugs from his father, but this was different. He never knew somebody – a friend – would provide him with one.

"Sorry I didn't tell you sooner…" said Marie. "We'd be sunk without you, Cadet."

"It's OK," said Cadet. "I knew what was going on."

Marie let go, now with a determined look. "I know we'll find Callie if we keep looking! Think you can see this thing through!"

" _Lea…_ "

"Huh?" said Cadet. "What was that?"

" _Lea…No… **LEAVE NOW!**_ " screamed the mysterious voice through their headphones.

"Huh? Who's there?" said Marie, but the mysterious voice didn't respond.

"I…," said Cadet. "I think it's someone…we know."

* * *

Using the zip line, they arrived at Slimeskin Garrison. Cadet noticed it was getting darker. He looked up at the sky. The sun was setting over the horizon.

" _I believe that the Great Zapfish and Callie are close,_ " said Sheldon. " _You should be near them soon._ "

"Got it!" said Marie.

"Um…Marie?" said Cadet.

"Yes?"

"Well, you said that you were Agent 2 and Callie was Agent 1, but who were these 'Agent 3' and 'General Jus'?"

"Well…" said Marie thinking back. "Agent 3 was the one who saved the Great Zapfish two years ago."

"What? That person did?!"

"Yeah. I remembered the time when Agent 3 signed up. When she heard about the Great Zapfish disappearance, she offered to help Captain Cuttlefish and General Jus to save the Zapfish and Inkopolis from the Octarians. She even became an agent BEFORE the incident."

"Did anyone know that she saved the Great Zapfish?"

"No, she might be a tough competitor, but she felt guilty of fighting the Octarians. To not make war between the Inklings and the Octarians again, she kept a secret about the New Squidbeak Splatoon and we never told ANYBODY. Well, Agent 3 still use her nickname and started her own agent career. She helped people in need, mostly patrolling areas like secret labs or banks or…whatever."

"Is she INTELLIGENT?" Cadet asked.

Marie placed her hand on her chin and thought about the last time when she was clever. But, hell no.

She remembered the time when Agent 3 got to the zapfish in many missions…but she threw her Hero Shot in the air - celebrating the moment TOO early -and got herself hit on the head thus fell off the platform and had to restart all over again.

She remembered the time when Agent 3 was messing around and constantly shooting Cuttlefish in ink.

She remembered the time when she and Callie were trying to teach Agent 3 how to use a charger to hit targets. But Agent 3 ignored their advice, and spun around rapidly, shooting (also rapidly) at different spots. She was able to pull the targets (even though she wasn't looking) AND shot Callie and Marie in the eyes and mouth.

And that was also the day when Marie gave Agent 3 a brutal black eye.

"I don't think so," said Marie as she finally came back to the present.

"A familiar time," said Cadet snickering. "Eh, Marie? Anyway, who's General Jus?"

"Ah," said Marie. "General Jus was one of the leaders of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. He was very close to Cuttlefish and always followed his orders. I got to tell you, on the surface, he's Jedi Justice."

"Jedi Justice?!" said Cadet shocked. "THE Jedi?"

"Yeah. You know him before?"

"I do know Jedi Justice. He's one of the most powerful snipers of Inkopolis! He won over three tournaments. One in Inkopolis and two in different countries."

"Just like you. Have you two met before?"

"Crikey. Not really. Sure, we both are snipers, but Jedi always focus on battle strategies with his team. He rarely went out in public."

"You might be able to find him. It's simple. He always wears a Paintball Mask."

"Yeah. Jedi once said that he couldn't LIVE without a mask on his head for 'safety reasons."

Cadet thought for a while. "What about Agent 3? How does she look like and what's her real name?"

Marie stared at Cadet blankly. "I don't know…I haven't seen Agent 3 for a LONG time. I do remember how she looked like before, but she has a new hairstyle since last month. All I remembered that she looked like YOU."

"Huh?"

"Well, she has turquoise eyes and dark brown skin. Except she's a girl."

"Yeah, I get it," said Cadet. "I say that we discuss this later and save some Zapfishes."

* * *

 **Deepsea Metro Facility**

Agent 8 and 9 arrived at Matchmaker Station.

"What is this test?" said Agent 8.

"In this test, you need to create a shape out of the crates that are identical to the example on the left," said Cumber. "If you destroy an incorrect crate by accident, you will fail. This test requires a precision of focus and close attention to detail."

" _I say you two should head to the equipper,_ " said Oro. " _Maybe you could find a suitable weapon for this mission._ "

They went onto the pad and a large glass cylinder surrounded them. Because of lack of space, the two octolings stuck together.

"ARGH!" they said as they were squeezed in. This wasn't the first time that happened. It happened in the other tests when Agent 8 and 9 needed to get suitable weapons. A computer appeared in front of them showing two options; the Squeezer or the Splat Charger.

" _I recommend the Splat Charger,_ " said Oro. " _You know that it could be used for long range, but also, you could use it to aim properly. It could destroy a crate in one shot!_ "

"Then we are using that," said Agent 9 pressing the computer. The cylinder slid down equipping Agent 8 and 9 with Splat Chargers.

"Let's go," said Agent 8 as they began the test.

They found themselves on a platform. On the right was a large pile of crates and on the left was a statue resembling a dog.

" _OK,_ " said Pearl. " _So you're supposed to shoot out crates on the right until they look like the statue, huh?_ "

"OK," said Agent 8 smiling. "This seems to be a simple test, but we need to focus on the detail and not mess this up."

They started to shoot crates from the pile and tried to match it to the statue on the left for 10 minutes. It was a bit difficult to see which crate they needed to get rid off as they needed to go the icon and looked at its features. During this, Agent 9 noticed that Agent 8 seemed happy about the test. She was smiling and humming (to the theme of Super Mario Bros.) as she destroyed some crates.

After destroying the last crate, a launchpad appeared. It would lead Agent 8 and 9 to the goal.

" _YESSS!_ " said Pearl. " _Head for the goal!_ "

Agent 9 swiped his brow. He was tired of running around the crates, trying to pick ones that they didn't need. He looked up to see Agent 8. She was smiling in pride – her hands on her hips – as she marveled the statue they made.

"What's the matter?" Agent 9 said.

"Nothing," said 8. "Why?"

"You're smiling like a lunatic."

"I'm just happy of this. There's no law against that, is there?"

"No, I'm just wondering why you were smiling during this test."

"It's just that I've ENJOYED this test. I like it."

"What makes you think of that? You know that we have to take these tests seriously. Also, failure of this is life-threatening."

"Well…I find this like art. Designing how the statue should look like. Seeing if it looks right, I kind of wish we could do it again. It's more…relaxing in comparison to the other tests."

Agent 9 guffawed as he held Agent 8's arm. "OK, princess. Enough admiring for today. Let's get to the g-"

Suddenly, something went over their eyes. This time, it was only briefly.

"What…" said Agent 8. "What was that?"

"I…I don't know…" said Agent 9. "We'll sort that out later."

Later, they were able to get to the precision thang. When they first saw it, it was a large, shiny blade-like object.

"The third thang," said Agent 9 as they picked it up and carried it to the train. "It seems to resemble a large blade."

"Yeah," said Agent 8 as they got onto the train. "Again, for some reason, I feel like this one isn't a good one to find. It looks deadly."

As the train started to head back to the central station, Agent 9 looked at Agent 8.

"8," he said. "Remembered that thing we saw during the Matchmaker Station?"

"Yeah," said 8. "What do you think it is?"

"I…think…I think I know the whole thing…"

"Me too."

* * *

 _Laughing happily, Agent 8 and 9 were playing basketball. There weren't any people at the school ground since it's school holidays, so there weren't any bullies to bother the two._

 _"C'mon," said Agent 9. "Give me your best shot."_

 _Agent 8 had the ball. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and threw the ball._

 _SHOFF!_

 _It went through the hoop!_

 _"Nice one, princess!" said Agent 9._

 _Agent 8 laughed. This was fun. When they were alone together, they didn't have to feel bad about themselves. They didn't have to hide away from the public. Since nobody else was at the school ground, they could breathe fine._

 _"Thank you, brother," smiled Agent 8 as 9 rubbed her on the head._

 _This was one of the days…_

 _One of the days when the two were free._

* * *

Agent 8 and 9 snapped out from their memory. Out of all the memories, they've recovered, this one was the most surprising memory of all. The two octolings looked at each other.

"B…brother?" said Agent 8.

"Sister?" said Agent 9.

"We're…we're related?"

Agent 9 smiled. "I guess we are. We are probably twins."

Agent 8 felt herself blushing.

"What's the matter?" said 9.

"Oh," said 8 embarrassed. "It's just that…before we knew that we are siblings, I…I have a bit of a…crush on you…"

She covered her face to hide her embarrassment. Agent 9 just smiled.

"It's OK," said 9. "For now on, let's go on as brother and sister."

Agent 8 looked up at Agent 9. She smiled.

"Also," said 9. "Don't even go out hanging with other BOYS without my permission."

8 chuckled. She remembered that 9 could be a bit protective of her.

"9," she said. "I got to say; it wouldn't be surprising that we're twins."

"Hmm?" said 9.

"Well, we have the same hair and skin color. Also, when I first saw you, I felt like we are related and we have the same thoughts."

"Yeah, I felt that as well."

When they arrived back at the central station, the telephone was yipping in excitement.

" _MAD PROPS, my dogs!_ " it said. " _You have found the third thang! There is just one more to find. The promised land awaits. Do not…SLANG NOT FOUND…yourselves._ "

At this, they saw Cuttlefish coming out from his tent holding a yellow sign.

"There," said Cuttlefish as he put it on the telephone. "Should be easier to notice if I put it here."

Agent 8 and 9 looked at it. It said; HAVE YOU SEEN THESE TWO?

On the sign was a picture of General Jus and Agent 3. Surprisingly, Agent 3 on the picture was wearing a random hat.

"Cuttlefish," said Agent 8. "What are you doing?"

"I'm putting a 'Missing Agent' poster," said Cuttlefish. "I wonder why we haven't found Agent 3 and General Jus."

Agent 9 looked at the poster. "That's a funny-looking hat," he said.

"Ah," said Cuttlefish. "Agent 3 had a new hairstyle and I kept forgetting how she looked like. I drew a hat on her just to complete the poster."

At this, Agent 8 remembered about her first encounter with Agent 3. The lime inkling looked friendly and didn't have any sadistic intention of killing octolings. However, the Octarians were told that inklings were cruel and selfish beings, only thinking about themselves and no one else. Hearing about Agent 3 was dreadful. They were told how reckless and cruel she was and there were some rumors about her backstory.

Cuttlefish noticed that 8 looked worried. "Are you alright?"

"I'm OK!" said 8 at first. "I mean…no. It's just that I'm nervous of Agent 3 and General Jus."

"Why's that?"

Agent 8 gulped. "I recovered a few memories and…we were told about the New Squidbeak Splatoon. Apparently, they said Agent 3 and General Jus are cruel and only cared about themselves."

Cuttlefish laughed. "No, they are not! They might be a threat to the Octarian Army, but that doesn't mean they don't have a HEART, do they?"

"…"

"Anyway, Agent 3 is the opposite meaning of cruelty. She's kind-hearted and – I got to say – she CARES for the Octarian army. Almost every time she visited Octo Valley, she felt guilty of fighting the Octarians. She tried once to make peace with DJ Octavio – your leader – but he refused to, no matter how many times she tried to strike a deal."

"I guess that's a certain text," said Agent 9.

"And oh," said Cuttlefish. "About being 'cruel', she isn't cruel at all…NOR serious. She's quite cocky in playful fun. I got to tell you, she's a RIOT with her stupid pranks."

"What pranks?" said Agent 8.

Cuttlefish put his hand on his chin and thought.

He remembered the time when Agent 3 was juggling 3 Hero Shots. She threw them in the air…but was unable to catch them. Almost. They hit her on the head.

He remembered the time when Agent 3 was far away and she activated her Ink Strike to Cuttlefish. And that was the day when his shack was FULLY covered in lime ink.

"I…wouldn't talk about it," said Cuttlefish. "Anyway, about General Jus; he's pretty tough. He doesn't muck around that much. I got to say – he doesn't like Octarians, but he could see Agent 3's point of seeing hatred between our races POINTLESS. I think it would take some time for him to accept you guys, but don't worry. You'll get there."

Agent 8 nodded. Hearing this makes her think. Is Cuttlefish right? Would Agent 3 be friendly to her? What if she does hate octolings? Would she accept her?

Putting that thought aside, she looked at Cuttlefish. He was looking at Agent 9…ahem…seemingly OBSERVING him.

"What is it?" said Agent 9.

"Nothing," said Cuttlefish, but he was looking at the octoling's eyes. "It's just your eyes I'm looking at. It's pretty rare for an inkling or an octoling to have heterochromia!"

Hearing this, Agent 9 instantly covered up his left eye with his left hand. This time, he snapped.

"Don't you dare say something about my eyes!" he growled curling his right hand into a fist; it's glowing red.

"Whoa, whoa!" said Cuttlefish. "Calm down. I was just saying. I don't mean any offence. Why are you uptight about that?"

Agent 9 started to uncurl his right hand. "It's…it's just that I don't like my eyes."

"Why's that?"

"I…I just hate it for personal reasons…"

As he let his left hand drop to the side, Agent 8 noticed that Agent 9's left eye turned a bit reddish. His hands were glowing a bit red.

Now Agent 8 worried about what might happen if 9 went too far and lost his sanity. She would be careful, but still…she feared something awful would happen when she found the last thang.

* * *

 **AN: And what would that be?**

 **We finally get to see in this chapter that Agent 8 and 9 are twins! But not a big surprise, eh?**

 **In the next chapter, things will heat up, so stick around to find out!**

 **If you like this story: follow or favorite this story for updates of the story. Make sure to review this chapter on what you thought of this story. I'm OK of hearing improvements from you (please no flames).**

 **Until next time, stay fresh! Hope you like the chapter!**


	7. I Don't Deserve It

**AN: Hi there everyone. We are close to end. Hope you like this chapter. Things are going to flare up soon.**

 **P.S. For those who watch Splatoon Gmod Videos, do any of you find the first part of this story familiar? ;3**

* * *

 **Chapter 7 – I Don't Deserve It**

 **Octolings Ahoy, 4:50 am**

Cadet arrived at Octoling Ahoy. Moving his front tentacle bang to the side, he looked around — the place he was in resembled Moray Towers; one Turf War stages he conquered. It was an excellent map for snipers.

"Hmm…" thought Cadet. "This should be easy."

He looked down at his spawn point.

"Great," he thought grimly. "It's nearly out of power. Not enough to revive me! Oh well. At least I know this place before."

He was on the highest building. He went towards the edge and started to aim for the zapfishes.

" _Cadet_ ," said Sheldon. " _I think it would be best for you to get down there and fight._ "

"No thanks," said the Skull Sniper gruffly. "I prefer being far away."

" _You wouldn't be able to shoot those zapfishes from here!_ "

Cadet ignored Sheldon. Within moments, he was able to shoot the zapfish cages far away, freeing the zapfishes. And when he couldn't reach of them, he would use his unique Sting Ray to fire at the zapfishes. He was down to one, but something was bothering him.

Cadet was aiming at the zapfish cage that was in the middle of the map when he heard something coming from his east. Without his eyes off the zapfish, he turned his charger to the east.

"Whoo-OWW!" said a female octoling (in a pop star way) as she ran towards Cadet only to be shot by him.

Cadet turned his charger to the zapfish, but he heard the noise again. He turned his charger to east.

"Yeaaaaaaaaaah-AHH!" said a male octoling.

"Yeah boiiiiiiii-OH!" said another male octoling.

"Alright baby-OOF!" said a female octoling.

Cadet groaned in frustration. He was trying to shoot the zapfish, but he was distracted by some stupid octoling soldiers as he has to keep moving his charger from left to right.

"This is going to be a looooooong day," he grumbled as another idiot soldier ran towards him.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay-YEET!"

* * *

 **Behind the other side of the map...**

The Octoling group watched as a fresh-shot group of soldiers were re-spawned at their spawn point.

Commander Fuchsia – the leader of the group – sighed in annoyance. She looked back at the map. She saw more idiot soldiers running towards Agent 4, but since they weren't using their weapons and just ran forward, they got shot.

"This is ridiculous," she thought. "I nearly got the chance to kill that inkling, but he was able to shoot me with that stupid Sting Ray. Now I have a bunch of useless rookies who are just doing nothing, but run around in their underwear and get shot."

"Commander Fuchsia," said Co-General Fury. "What should we do now?"

"Well," said Commander Fuchsia with a dark smile. "That agent is just standing there, sniping anything out. I could say that he's TOO scared to come down. If he doesn't come down, then WE will make him come down."

"And how do you propose to do?"

Commander Fuchsia grinned evilly as she got out an Inkstrike.

"This," she said.

* * *

Cadet sighed as he shot the last idiot soldier. This was getting ridiculous. The octolings were driving him CRAZY. He thought that the Octarian Army would take their mission seriously, but he never thought that they would stoop to this level.

Noticing that they weren't any more soldiers, he sighed in relief.

"Finally!" he thought. "Now I can finish this."

He was about to shoot when he saw a LARGE SHADOW LOOMING OVER HIM. And it was getting bigger.

BOOM!

Screaming, Cadet fell from the building. The world was spinning around him. He didn't know what was going on. All he knew was that he was falling. He landed in the broader building with a sickening thud. It was so painful (although no bones in both inklings and octolings). Cadet was trying to hold back tears from his fall, but his body was in pain. Fortunately, he heard a thud from behind him. It was his charger! UNFORTUNATELY, it was too far away from him.

"Well, well, well," said a familiar voice.

Cadet looked up. In front of him was a group of octolings, pointing their weapons at him. In the front was a familiar looking octoling.

Cadet gasped. It was the Octoling General he first encountered! He remembered how she put her foot on his chest. She was a reckless soldier and won't show mercy to anyone. And here she was about to finish what she started.

"Remember me?" said the Octoling General. "It was a fun time when we first met each other."

Cadet tried to move, but he wasn't able to convince himself to do so. He was too scared to move, and all he could tremble.

The Octoling General laughed in mockingly. "Aw…are you scared, baby. Don't worry." She put her finger on the trigger. "Before you know it, you will feel no more…COWARD."

At this, Cadet turned into squid form and tried to swim to his charger.

"FIRE!" screamed the Octoling General.

The octolings shot dark fuchsia ink at the small lime squid. The Skull Sniper tried to dodge the flying balls, but he was relentlessly got shot. He was covered in dark fuchsia ink, making his body ache in blazing pain. He couldn't move. He was slowing down. He felt the Octoling General's foot pressed down on him.

Cadet tried to turn back into human form, but the Octoling General was too strong. She pointed her Octo Shot in front of Cadet's eyes.

"I got to say, I am impressed that you could snipe from far away," said the Octoling General. "But you think you could play safe by just being far away? You think you could be a hero by just running away from everything? I can't believe that old Agent 2 sent a stupid kid to war…against the Octarian Army! We will rise against the Inklings, destroy their kind and have our revenge! Ha, ha, ha! I can taste it. Well, you won't be there to see your family fall. I wonder why you choose to fight…a coward who chooses to fight, who is weak and doesn't know how to fight."

She laughed. Cadet felt having tears in his eyes. He closed his eyes.

" **Help me,** " thought Cadet as the Octoling General pressed the trigger.

BANG!

But that wasn't the Octoling General. Cadet didn't feel any pain. He opened his eyes. All he saw was the Octoling General looking around in shock. Where the octoling soldiers were supposed to be were replaced with puddles of lime ink.

"Hey," said Marie's voice.

The Octoling General looked behind in confusion…before being shot in the face. Cadet watched as her ghost flew through the air – cursing – going back to the re-spawn point. He looked at Marie. It looked like she ran out of breath. She got a zapfish flying above her.

"I…," said Marie panting. "…came…here…as soon as possible. I got the zapfish."

Cadet turned back into human form. He picked up his charger. For some reason, he heard voices in his head.

 _"What a coward."_

 _"Did you see what happened to that sniper?"_

 _"Yeah! He fell off because he was oblivious to that squid jumping to him!"_

 _"What a coward!"_

 _"If you are so brave, why are you trying to run away? I bet it's because you're trying to get to your mummy."_

 _"I wonder why you choose to fight…a coward who chooses to fight, who is weak and doesn't know how to fight."_

Cadet felt something. It was painful. More painful than the last splats, shots and smashes he suffered through. He kept hearing those words and he had one thing in his mind

 **They were right.**

Marie noticed Cadet looking upset.

"Cadet?" she said. "Is everything OK…?"

She was cut off when Cadet spun around and used his charger to shoot. The long line of ink narrowly missed Marie by a millimeter.

Marie stared Cadet shocked. Before she could say why he did that, Cadet ran off back to their spawn point. Marie noticed that he was sniffing and wiping his eyes with his free arm.

Marie saw something; something was NOT right with Cadet.

* * *

As Marie came to the Boss Kettle, she saw Cadet there.

"Cadet," she said. "Is there something wrong?"

Cadet looked away, wanting to avoid the question. "It's…it's nothing."

"Well you nearly shot me with your charger," said Marie matter-of-factly. "You cried off. Better tell me."

"J…Let's just go to the boss-kettle," said Cadet.

Before Marie could say another word, Cadet turned into squid form and jumped into the kettle. Marie – without sighing – joined him.

They found themselves in a platform with many small buildings and the environment looked like a system of sewer pipes.

"There's the zapfish!" said Marie pointing to it.

"And here comes Boss 4," said Cadet as the zapfish was pulled into the ink by an octopus tentacle.

A shining light appeared from the ink. After a long dramatic entrance, the Octoweapon revealed itself; an enormous robot shaped like a clam with three Octocopters carrying it.

" _It's targeting you!_ " said Sheldon as an aiming beam appeared on Cadet's chest. "RUN!"

At this, the Octo Shower used a charger and shot a dangerous red laser beam at them. Luckily, Cadet and Marie quickly swam away and took cover behind one of the small buildings.

"Carp," said Marie.

"Oh well," said Cadet. "Can't seem to miss."

He quickly let his charger be shown and shot a long line of ink at one of the Octocopters. The Octo Shower now had two Octocopters.

"We are not down yet!" said Marie.

Out of the blue, the Octocopter used one of its hands to reveal a box-shaped weapon.

"Is that the…" said Cadet.

"Yeah…" said Marie. "It's the Sloshing Machine…except that it's HIGH-TECH."

The Octo Shower fired its weapon, letting out huge balls of dark fuchsia ink.

"Watch out!" said Cadet as they ducked.

The Skull Sniper quickly spun around and shot, hitting another Octocopter. Now with only one Octocopter, the Octo Shower was struggling to fly in a stable condition. It's going too fast, tilting to both sides.

"There's one more!" said Sheldon. "Take it down!"

The Octo Shower started to shoot missiles at them. At Cadet, to be precise.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Cadet screamed as the force of the explosion caused him to fly in the air. He saw the edge of the platform. HE'S GOING TO FALL OVER THE PLATFORM.

Not on the level of the platform, Cadet started to descend downwards, screaming.

"GOTCHA!" said Marie quickly grabbing his left foot.

Cadet looked up seeing Marie pulling him back up on the platform.

"Don't worry," she said as she pulled him up. "I won't let you go."

As Cadet got up onto the platform, the Octo Shower came in for another attack. Thinking quickly, Cadet shot a long line of ink and it hit the Octocopter. This caused the Octo Shower to collapsed. A tentacle appeared on top of it.

"Burst it!" said Marie.

At the same time, they shot at the tentacle. It burst and let out a geyser of dark fuchsia ink before laid there inactive. It started to shake; black steam came out. Electricity and lime green lights were coming out of it. And then, it exploded.

BOOM!

Ignoring the ink covering them, Marie went up and grabbed the zapfish.

* * *

As Cadet and Marie came out from the kettle, they were able to get enough power to power up the next zipline.

"Phew," said Marie. "That was rough there. I wonder if we are close to the Great Zapfish and C…"

Suddenly, a mysterious voice started yelling through their headsets. Sure it was loud and clear, but Cadet and Marie couldn't make sense of what the voice was saying.

"Uh…" said Marie. "Are you holding the phone upside down?"

" _Ugh…_ " said the mysterious voice. " _I totally was._ "

For some reason, that voice sounded familiar. It seemed young, female, lively and surprisingly, it sounded like…

"CALLIE?!" screamed Marie. Could it be her?!

" _Um…_ " said the mysterious voice. " _Nope, this is DEFINITELY NOT Callie! So just…leave. It's dangerous here and it's not safe at all!_ "

"Um…" said Marie unconvinced. "Don't these mean the same thing?"

" _WHATEVER! **JUST GET OUT OF HERE!** I'm not calling again!_"

"W-wait! Don't go! Callie? CALLIE?!"

But there was no response. Marie stood there, shocked.

"I…I can't believe it," said Marie. "Could Callie be working with the Octarians?"

That couldn't be possible. Marie knew that Callie was Agent 2 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. Of course, she fought the Octarians to defend her people. She never turned her back on the Inklings. It might not be her who made the call. Possibly, some fraud. But Callie has been missing and there's probably one reason why she was missing.

SHE MUST HAVE JOINED THE OCTARAINS.

With that thought in her head, Marie felt fear. Her cousin gone mad and now betrayed her.

"Cadet!" she said to him. "I need your help now more than ever!"

Cadet just stood there, silently.

"Cadet?" said Marie. "Do you hear me?"

Cadet wasn't listening. He was looking down with a blank expression.

"Earth to Cadet?" said Marie. "Can you hear me?"

Cadet wasn't listening. The whole time, he was lost in his thoughts. Right after they got out of the kettle, he remembered what Marie said back there.

 _"I won't let you go."_

Then, he remembered what Marie said to him throughout all the missions he went through.

 _"Great work, Agent 4."_

 _"I'm pretty impressed of you."_

 _"Cadet, I want to thank you again for all the help you did so far."_

And all of a sudden, Oro's voice came to him.

 _"If you're feeling low, you could come to me for help. I'm available when you need the time to."_

Cadet remembered. He remembered all the time, Marie and Sheldon looked out for him. Even though Marie's a celebrity, Cadet started to find her more than just an idol. He saw her as a…a…a friend. He remembered what Oro said. He was willing to look out for Cadet just in case he needed. But these things were wiped out by a new batch of voices.

 _"What a coward."_

 _"Did you see what happened to that sniper?"_

 _"Yeah! He fell off because he was oblivious to that squid jumping to him!"_

 _"What a coward!"_

 _"If you are so brave, why are you trying to run away? I bet it's because you're trying to get to your mummy."_

 _"I wonder why you choose to fight…a coward who chooses to fight, who is weak and doesn't know how to fight."_

Cadet bit his lips. His fanged teeth were touching his lips making it hurt again. Many people still make fun of him for being a coward. Nobody would love a coward. Nobody. His father was going away — the only person he looked up too. And here Cadet was; all alone. Cadet started to see the truth; he was a coward and he would ALWAYS be one. Nobody would love a coward. Nobody. He has tried his best, but yet nobody saw the good in that. He didn't have what it took to save Inkopolis.

Marie saw tears forming in his eyes.

"Cadet?" said Marie. "Are you ok?"

"I…," said Cadet. "I…"

"You what?"

"I'm…tired. Tired of all of this. Tired of fighting…I'm…tired of going through BLOODY hell!"

Marie was shocked. "What did you say?"

"…you know what? What does it matter? It doesn't matter to you."

"So you're saying…" said Marie trying to make sense of what Cadet was saying. "…you're giving up already?"

"No," said Cadet finally riled up. "I'm tired of being an agent!"

Cadet turned around.

"But YOU'RE an agent," said Marie. "Agents don't quit!"

"I'm…not an agent. And I never will be. You even said it yourself!"

Marie's face went red. "I did? When did I ever say so?"

"You said that I was a soft kitty," snapped Cadet. "Did you?"

"…I…I did. But I didn't mean that. And by the way, that was like a million years ago."

"Cadet," said Sheldon wanting to cool down the conversation. "Marie…"

"But you're right," said Cadet grimly. "I'm not an agent and you know it. I get killed in almost every mission!"

"Well, what did you expect?" said Marie. "You think you could join in to learn a few tricks and quit at the second we're close to finishing. You know that you're still making mistakes. I do as well!"

"Well, you said that agents couldn't make mistakes," said Cadet. "And that's what every agent should be!"

"I…," Marie hesitated before finding her voice. "What makes you think that?"

"If you are so smart, why don't you tell me?" said Cadet.

"I…I don't know…"

Cadet curled up his fists. "You know what? Didn't you hear what Inklings say about each other?! 'Oh I'm so perfect. Oh, that squid isn't good'. And THAT'S what I have been through in everyday life! I've tried to do my best, but I ended up failing, letting those jerks get the best of me. Most of the people always make fun of me and I didn't do any crud to them! Oh, but that doesn't concern you? Did you expect me always to be perfect? FINE! **LET IT BE THAT WAY!** If you are perfect, then do it **YOURSELF!** "

He spun around and went off.

"Cadet," said Marie. "Don't throw it all away."

"I…I deserve it," said Cadet. "And YOU don't care. I don't have exactly what it takes."

"You've got exactly what it takes, Mr Classy," said Marie getting mad. She couldn't believe that Cadet wouldn't listen to her side of the story. "But you give up too easily! And you don't listen! You're a quitter!"

"Well what a ripper. At least I'm good at something."

Cadet started to walk away. Marie was angry as well. She didn't mean to call Cadet weak, but she didn't say that he will ALWAYS be weak. And she was accused of thinking that she was always perfect.

"You know what?" yelled Marie. "Inkopolis **DOES** hate you!"

That was the last thing she said before being shot in the eye.

When Cadet came back to his senses, he found himself holding his charger in the attack position. He saw Marie holding her right eye. The lime ink didn't mean to scratch her nor hurt her. But the fast force of the shot caused Marie's eye to swell. Even worse, when he shot her, she flung her charger in the air and over the edge of the platform.

"Ow…" said Marie.

Tears started to show in Marie's eyes. Cadet was shocked. What has he done? He was so angry that he let Marie knew it. But this wasn't what he wanted. Like how it happened on the surface, he wanted to smack those who hurt him. He was laughed at for being a coward. Now he already did it, but this wasn't what he wanted. He didn't want…to make people feel sad.

Cadet was speechless. His mouth went dry. He couldn't say anything. Marie glared at him. She curled up her fists. She stomped towards the zip line and before she could use it, she looked back at Cadet and said, "I wish I didn't hire you."

She went off. Cadet felt hurt inside again. This wasn't what he wanted.

"Cadet?" said Sheldon. "Are you OK?"

Cadet just screamed in agony before shooting at a random direction. He threw the charger to the ground. He felt tears coming down from his eyes and started to drench his bandanna.

He dropped to his knees and put his hands over his eyes.

* * *

Cadet used the zip line to get to the next stage. He looked around. He was in an area of futuristic floating islands above a lake of dark fuchsia ink. There was barely any daylight. It was already night time.

Cadet couldn't find Marie. She's probably in one of the missions. A pain of guilt entered his body. He wished he didn't lash out on Marie. He hoped he could say his problems softly. He wished that he could say sorry to her. But he knew that Marie won't.

"I deserve this," he thought.

Feeling tired, he decided to sleep on the hard floor for tonight. He looked up at the sky. He saw many stars in the night sky. This was the first time he ever has seen so many stars in real life.

A lot had happened. What was surprising was that he forgot to find a home and his dad was waiting for an answer. Cadet thought that his father would be worried. The Skull Sniper hasn't been seen in a day. He missed his father. The previous hours had taken up the toll and before Cadet could think of any more negative thoughts, he closed his eyes.

* * *

 **Deepsea Metro Facility, Ink It Station**

"NOPE, NOPE, NOPE, NOPE, NOPE," said Agent 8 as she was chased by a flooder.

She came to a large wall and the flooder was coming in. She quickly inked the wall and used to swim up. When she got through the grate floor and onto the building, she found Agent 9 waiting at the goal.

"What took you so long?" he asked.

"Sorry," said 8.

They touched the goal and completed the test.

"Yes!" said Agent 8.

They went back to the station where C.Q Cumber met them.

"Congratulations for passing this test," he said. "I believe you're near the last thang."

"The last thang?!" said Agent 8 and 9 in unison.

Sure it was. On the next station, they found the last thang.

"Yes!" said Agent 8 when they arrived. "We found it!"

They looked at the thang. It seemed to resemble some bottle lid.

"It doesn't look like a prize," said Agent 9. "But at least we could get ourselves out of here."

They both picked it up and carried it to the train. As the train started to go back to the central station, Agent 8 looked at the thang.

"I can't believe it," she thought. "We've finally got the last thang. The last thing we need to be free."

Her smile turned into a frown. "Still, I feel like something horrible will happen. Also, I wonder how we were able to survive the tests. I felt like we still couldn't face them. I think that's just luck. Are my skills good? Am I strong?"

She looked at Agent 9. He was staring at the window seeing his reflection. He was looking at his eyes. The right eye was red and the left eye was purple.

"He still hates his heterochromia, does he?" thought Agent 8. "I'm worried about my brother now. He's pretty upset about how his eyes are."

Meanwhile, Agent 9 lost in his thoughts.

"Why must I have those different eyes?" he thought. "Why must I look different? It's like, when back at home; I couldn't seem to fit in properly. I've been laughed and punched. What did I do wrong that makes me look like a freak?"

The two agents were silent. They were lost in their thoughts. They were back in the present when the train stopped. Knowing what to do, they took the sealing thang and went out.

"You guys!" said Cuttlefish as they stepped out. "You found the last thang! I'm so proud of you."

Agent 8 smiled. As they put the sealing thang down, the telephone started yapping.

" _WHOOMP!_ " said the telephone. " _THERE IT IS! You have found the final thang! I am like, TOTES impressed. I was not sure you had the…ERROR…to pull it off!_ "

Agent 8, 9 and Cuttlefish noticed that the telephone seemed to be very excited about all the thangs found.

" _Are you ready to visit the promised land?_ " said the telephone.

"Yes," said Agent 8. "Let's go!"

" _This is it,_ " said the telephone. " _Are you…ERROR…ready to ascend to the higher plane?_ "

"For sure!" said Cuttlefish.

" _The promised land awaits,_ " said the telephone. " _Are you ready to join something BIGGER than yourself?_ "

"Yes!" said Agent 9 who was already losing patience.

" _Congratulations, number 10,008 and 10,009!_ " said the telephone. " _The door to the promised land will now open!_ "

Something was happening to the telephone. It was sparkling out electricity and its handle was moving fast. It was making a high-pitched screech.

Agent 9 put his hands in front of Agent 8 and Cuttlefish in case something terrible was going to happen.

The telephone started to make the thangs fly. It then jumped on the sealing thang and begun to form the thangs into a large shape. The door of the way started to open. Random noises were heard from it.

" _Please,_ " said the telephone charmingly on the top of the shape. " _Step right inside! Here we go! Do not be shy!_ "

"Wahoo!" said Cuttlefish. "Home sweet home – here we come!"

"This doesn't look safe," said Agent 8 looking at it.

"Yeah," said Agent 9 worriedly. "I'm not sure of it."

"C'mon, you two! We got no time!" said Cuttlefish grabbing the agents' hand and dragging them into the shape. He was getting impatient and he wanted to get back to Inkopolis.

" _W-wait a second!_ " said Marina through their headsets. " _Is it just me, or...uh…_ "

" _Does that kinda look EXACTLY like a **BLENDER?!**_ " exclaimed Oro.

" _WHOA! WHOA! WHOA! YEAH, HOLD UP!_ " said Pearl. " _This just got seriously sketchy!_ "

"BLENDER?!" said Agent 8, 9 and Cuttlefish in unison.

It was too late. The door closed. 8, 9 and Cuttlefish felt the platform beneath them starting to rise. They appeared in the jug part.

"I KNEW IT!" screamed Agent 8. "It's a trap!"

"What?!" said Cuttlefish.

Agent 9 groaned. "All these tests and 'finding the thangs' are all for NOTHING, but DEATH ITSELF!"

"But why does that telephone want to kill us?"

"I don't know, but this isn't the time to think about it!" said Agent 9 as he started kicking the jug.

" _INGREDIENT ACQUISITION COMPLETE,_ " said the telephone as the blender started to shake, powering on. " _REFORMATTING MATTER…_ "

"OH NO!" screamed Agent 8.

"You let us out of here, you stupid phone!" said Cuttlefish as he started banging on the jug.

* * *

 **Inkopolis**

Pearl, Marina and Oro watched on their computer monitor as Agent 8, 9 and Cuttlefish struggled to get out – looking from the security cameras. Agent 9 was making a success of kicking the jug – making a small crack – but it wasn't enough to break free.

"Marina!" screamed Pearl in panic. "They're gonna get smoothied! YOU GOTTA DO SOMETHING!"

"I'm trying!" said Marina as she rapidly tapped on her laptop, but made no effect to stop the blender. "None of my hacks are working…I CAN'T GET IN!"

"That does it," said Oro pushing Marina aside and tapping on the laptop. "I'm going to activate the distress signal on Agent 8's CQ-80. Hopefully, someone nearby will pick it up. Cross your fingers!"

* * *

"So," said Agent 3. "Are you feeling better already?"

"I still feel unsafe without my helmet," grumbled General Jus.

"You know you have to do it. It's better than letting yourself being killed by that bloody shredder! It could've been worse."

"What else is worse than having NO safety equipment? We are in an unidentified facility. We don't know what danger is lurking around here!"

"Calm down, we are just going through a maze. Sure it's dark, but there's no danger in here for the last few minutes. We just need to know where…"

Suddenly, Agent 3's employee-model CQ-80 started to ring.

"What's this?" said Agent 3 taking it out.

She pressed the button and a hologram map. On the map, near them, was a large red dot.

"Somebody made a distress signal," said General Jus. "It must be Captain Cuttlefish!"

"And he's around here!" said Agent 3.

* * *

Agent 8 looked at her CQ-80 as it roared to life. It was making a ringing noise.

"What's going on with that?" she said.

She looked up…and screamed.

She saw the precision thang above them. It started to spin. This means one thing.

THE BLADE OF THE BLENDER!

Agent 8's mouth went dry.

If that blade lowered itself onto them, they would be cut up and smoothied to death.

And if they weren't killed by the blade, maybe they could escape through the hole Agent 9 made.

And if they were really lucky – Agent 8 figured – maybe both would happen at the same time!

At least they didn't have to suffer the most painful part that would lead them to death. The most painful part right now was waiting for it to HAPPEN.

"Oh #$%," swore Agent 9 **[1]**. The hole he made was pathetically small. It was not as wide as a catflap nor a chocolate chip.

"We are going to die," whimpered Agent 8.

"Yeah, I think we get the picture, thanks," said Cuttlefish gloomily as the blade started to lower slowly. "Any last words?"

"Yes," said Agent 9. "HOW CAN WE BE **SO DUMB?!** "

There was a loud smash from the glass ceiling. As if in slow motion, Agent 8, 9 and Cuttlefish looked around to see two inklings flying through the glass ceiling and towards the blender.

In the front was a female 18-year old inkling with dark brown skin and turquoise eyes. Her hair is styled with a one, long, wavy tentacle hanging on the right side of the face and a small one in the back. The hair is lime with dark purple tips. Her eyes are turquoise. She wears the Hero Headset, Hero Jacket and Hero Snowboots.

Behind her was a male 17-year old inkling with tan skin and red eyes. His hair is tied up in a ponytail that is lime and has crimson pink tips. He has army face paint stripes on his cheeks. He wears the same clothes as the girl.

Both of them are wearing a dark grey cape.

Agent 8 recognized those two. It's Agent 3 and General Jus!

Quickly, Agent 3 kicked the telephone off the blender, causing the blender to power down. Meanwhile, General Jus hit the blender's jug causing the entire blender to tip over. The jug smashed into many pieces but left Agent 8, 9 and Cuttlefish unharmed.

They watched – still in slow motion – as General Jus hit his head on the floor with his arms out. They looked up to see Agent 3 falling. She winked at them…before hitting the ground head-first.

THWACK!

* * *

 **AN: And that's how you end a chapter! Look who appear; Agent 3 and General Jus! But the danger is not far yet.**

 **[1] Please excuse the words replaced by various symbols as the letters for that word were caught in traffic and unable to make it here on time for the chapter. :3**

 **In the next chapter, we will see our heroes escaping the facility. However, they are going to face obstacles which may lead the two octolings back to their sad backstory. Is there anyone to help them? Also, keep an eye out for Cadet because I got something special for him.**

 **If you like this story: follow or favorite this story for updates of the story. Make sure to review this chapter on what you thought of this story. I'm OK of hearing improvements from you (please no flames).**

 **Until next time, keep on rocking. Merry Christmas.**


	8. Is It Worth It?

**AN: Hi guys, it's Christmas today! I hope you are having a good time and in the Christmas spirit.**

 **Here's Chapter 8. However, since it's too long, I'll be splitting it into two parts. Here is the first part of Agent 8 and 9 escaping the facility.**

* * *

 **Chapter 8 – Is It Worth It?**

"Holy mackerel!" said Cuttlefish as they examined the remains of the blender. "We made it?"

" _BOOYAH!_ " said Pearl. " _Man, that was way too close…_ "

" _Sweet!_ " said Marina in relief. " _The distress signal worked!_ "

" _And somebody picked it up!_ " said Oro.

They saw the male inkling next to them, lying on the floor.

"General Jus?!" said Cuttlefish in disbelief. It couldn't be General Jus. He doesn't have his Paintball Helmet, but Cuttlefish noticed that sometimes Jus wore face paint.  
He looked up. He saw the freshly-kicked telephone on the ground. It didn't seem to be functioning, but it was shaking. A few meters ahead was the female inkling, lying on the ground.

"Agent 3?!" said Cuttlefish. "Is that really you?"

" _No way!_ " said Marina. " _This is who you've been looking for?_ "

" _Wait…_ " said Oro. " _They look familiar…_ "

"Ah, fish sticks!" said Cuttlefish. "This ain't good. They are out cold…"

Agent 3 groaned. She got up, holding onto the blender's base to get up. She was in a bad way; she was struggling to stand on her feet and she's smiling weakly. Not to mention, her eyes were spinning around.

"Agent 3," said Cuttlefish. "Are you OK?"

"Mummy?" said 3 weakly. "Did you buy me new pants?"

At this, she fell on her back and at the same time, she kicked her feet up and her shoes went flying, hitting onto 3's head.

It was silent for a while…silent until Agent 3 started snoring.

"What's going on with Agent 3?" said Agent 8. "What's wrong with her?"

"Not again," said Cuttlefish shaking his head. "This isn't the first time that happened."

He went towards Agent 3 and the latter was sleeping soundly.

"3!" said Cuttlefish before slapping Agent 3 a million times. By the time 3 opened her eyes, her eyes were wonky.

"Wake up!" said Cuttlefish.

Coming back to her sense, Agent 3 saw Cuttlefish in front of her.

"Gramps?" she said as she got up. "It's that you?"

"Yes," said Cuttlefish. "It's me. Remember?"

In joy, Agent 3 put her arms around him. "I'm so happy to see you! I'm happy that you're still OK!"

"But 3," said Cuttlefish. "Where were you the whole time?"

"Beats me. When General Jus and I awoke, we found ourselves on top of a facility on the seas of Inkopolis. Unfortunately, we were in a cage. We broke free of it and took down the guards. We spend the next few hours searching for you during that; General Jus lost his helmet. We stole this from an enemy and used it to guide our way to you," said Agent 3 showing out her employee-model CQ-80. "We picked up your distress signal and came to save you in time! How the heck were you in that blender?"

"Well, I found Agent 8 and 9 who have to collect some thangs to get to the surface, but they were set as a trap. That telephone used the thangs to make a blender and we fell into it thinking as a way out."

"Wait, who is Agent 8 and 9?"

Cuttlefish pointed to the two octolings. "Them."

Agent 3 looked at Agent 8 and 9. 8 waved shyly. 9 gulped.

"Them?!" said Agent 3 surprised. "Those octolings?"

"Yeah…" said Cuttlefish.

Agent 3 shook her head. "Gramps. I'm not saying that I'm against them, but…you HATE Octarians."

"Well at first. But they lost their memories. They are recovering a few of them. They said they had heard the Calamari Inkantation and they agreed to help to get to the surface."

"I thought you said that all Octarians CAN'T be trusted. Even when I tried to make peace with them, you told me to fight them instead. Just like what just happened."  
"Wait a minute," said Cuttlefish looking surprised. He looked at Agent 8 and 9. "So you two were the ones who fought 3 and General Jus."

"I swear!" said 8. "I didn't remember fighting those two!"

"Me neither," said 9.

Agent 3 looked at the octolings. For some reason, she remembered two years ago when she had to fight the Octarians and she felt guilty when she killed them – either if they re-spawned or not.

Coming forwards, Agent 3 put her hand out, wanting to shake Agent 8's hand.

"Guys," she said. "Either if you do remember or not…I'm sorry for making your people suffer. I don't mean to be cruel to them."

Agent 8 awkwardly shook Agent 3's hand. "I guess you don't need to apologise. I mean, you…"

Suddenly, something appeared in front of Agent 8's and 9's eyes.

* * *

 _It has been two weeks ever since DJ Octavio's fought with Agent 3 and General Jus. Octavio had been missing and a few octolings decided to take his place as the leader of the Octarians until they found their lost king._

 _In the meantime, 8 was on her bed, listening to her phone. She recorded Octavio's defeated fight and there was music playing in that background.  
It was the CALAMARI INKANTATION._

 _This had turned most of the Octarians around. They thought that Inklings were bad, but they never knew that their songs sound…good. They've only heard Octavio's songs, but compared to the Calamari Inkantation, it sounded like just trash._

 _The Calamari Inkatantion was about enjoying life, just dancing -no matter who you were and to try your best. It was beautiful with many instruments played in the background._

 _Agent 8 was touched by the song. She liked it so much that she became ADDICTED to it. This also inspired her to write her poems, getting new ideas._ _The Calamari Inkantation changed her life forever. She was happy but wasn't satisfied with what happened AFTER Octavio's fight._

 _Because of the oppression of the Octarian Army, Agent 9 quit the army and got Agent 8 fired as well. 8 wished that 9 didn't because she wanted to be stronger. Be stronger than what the Octarians thought of them. However, 9 was sick of hearing the soldiers' nasty jokes about them and thought that the best way to keep him AND his sister safe was to quit the army so that they could have a safer and kinder life. But 9 was very depressed as on the day he quit, he had a fall out with someone. There was also tense among society as Marina had ran away saying that 'the Calamari Inkantation changed her life forever'._

 _Two years had past and nothing changed ever since. But there were still some Octarians listening to the Calamari Inkantation, wondering if what they thought of the Inklings was wrong. Agent 8 and 9 were always bullied, not to mention 9 was in a deep depression. He's more gloomy than ever before. The drama happened during one day._

 _Agent 8 was writing poems in her journal during lunchtime at school when the bullies pushed her._

" _Out of the way," said Fuchsia laughing, the leader of the bullies._

" _Do you have to be MEAN to everyone?" said 8 having enough of Fuchsia's superior attitude._

" _Oh, sorry," said Fuchsia reaching out her hand._

 _Instead of shaking 8's hand, Fuchsia snatched 8's journal._

" _Ooh…," said Fuchsia. "What's this?"_

 _She opened it and read one of her poems._

" _Ooooh!" she said mockingly. "A lame poem!"_

" _Give that back," demanded 8._

" _Says who? The girl who quits the army to become more WEAKER."_

 _8 was speechless. Just before she could think, Fuchsia held the journal high._

" _Hey, dudes!" she said. "Catch this!"_

 _She threw it to one of her lackeys._

" _HEY, GIVE IT BACK!" said 8 trying to catch the journal._

 _The bullies spend the next few minutes playing piggy in the middle using the journal as a ball while 8 was trying to catch it._ _When Fuchsia grabbed the journal, 8 charged towards her._

" _YOU GIVE THAT BACK TO ME, YOU WITCH!" she screamed._

" _Oh yeah?" said Fuchsia. "Then fish it out of the pond."_

 _She threw it away from her…right into the water fountain. Agent 8 screamed._

" _Bad news. It looks like playtime is over, weakling!" said Fuchsia as she and her bullies went away laughing._

 _Agent 8 watched as they went away in sight. The word 'weakling' got stuck in her head. She quickly got to the water fountain and grabbed the journal out of the water, but the damage is done; drenched, the spine is broken, the front cover peeled off and the pages have turned into mushy, cold, wet pile. She looked at the words and tried to read them, but the pen writing was disappearing, melting and fading away._

 _All there, now all gone._

 _She dropped to her knees and started to cry._

 _For so long, she had been bullied with no sign of mercy or love. The Octarian society was so cruel. She wished she wasn't one of them. She wanted to run away from them._

 _Wait, that's it! Run away. Why didn't she think of that before? The answer was so obvious and why had it taken her until now to realize it? It was time to forget about living underground. Sure, being in the Octarian Army had its high chances of being the greatest, but it seemed to 8 that it was mostly low. Being scolded, smacked and humiliated wasn't exactly her idea of fun._

" _How could I have been so dumb?" thought 8 smiling. But that smile faded away. She couldn't live anymore in this dump, going to run away, got to the surface and lived a new life._

 _That night, she packed up everything she needed. Luckily, there was space in her ink tank pockets for her to keep everything she needed. She went to the kitchen and grabbed a few muesli bars to help her. She was about to go out when she heard something. She turned around to see her brother. 9 was surprised._

 _Agent 8 had forgotten that running away meant not seeing her brother again and didn't want that to happen._

" _Brother," she said. "I can explain."_

" _You don't need to explain," said 9 as he grabbed a few muesli bars. He turned to 8 and smiled. "I'm running away as well."_

 _That's when 8 noticed that 9 had his ink tank with him. She smiled. The two grabbed their Octo Shots, went outside, locked the door and ran. They ran through the streets of the city before arriving at the borders of the town. There were a few mountains and they were easy to climb, but almost no one decided to go over the mountains._

 _As they ran, 8 looked back to see the city one more time before started to go over the mountains. They weren't coming back to the city._

 _They spent the next few days taking long hikes to the surface. It was some of the most enjoyable times and unspeakably magnificent. Agent 8 and 9 were happier than before. Finally free of the Octarian society, they didn't need to worry about anything._

 _They finally got to Octo Valley. They were walking through the thick forest when they saw a large temple on top of a large mountain._

" _What's that?" said Agent 8._

" _It's Mount Nantai!" said Agent 9. "The temple there had been abandoned a long time ago. Rumors said that this temple is haunted."_

" _Ah, curiosity always kills people, but I'm willing to see what's there."_

 _Agent 8 was about to go when Agent 9 grabbed her hand._

" _If you are so eager to do something crazy, then I'll have to come with you," said 9. "I can't let you be in danger."_

 _8 smiled. "Thanks, brother."_

 _They made their way to the mountain. It was challenging to climb and it took them within an hour to get up, but they got there. They saw the temple; it looked Japanese – painted in white, red and black – and weeds were growing out from it._

 _Meanwhile, on the roof were Agent 3, General Jus and Cuttlefish. They were at the temple because Cuttlefish wanted to teach Agent 3 about Mount Nantai._

" _Do you think Octavio lived in the temple before?" said Agent 3 as they watched the sun disappearing into the horizon._

" _I'm not sure," said Cuttlefish. "It's been a long time…obviously; 100 years ago!"_

 _General Jus looked down and saw a platform, a long way down from them. Suddenly, something caught his eye. There on the platform was Agent 8 and 9._

" _Umm…" he said. "Guys…"_

" _What is it?" said Cuttlefish._

" _Octolings found!"_

 _Cuttlefish and Agent 3 looked down and saw the two octolings there._

" _What are they doing here?" said Agent 3._

" _Somehow," said Cuttlefish. "They must have tracked us!"_

" _What are we going to do?" said Agent 3 examining the octolings. Somehow, they aren't wearing goggles or shades. They were just Squidfin Hook Cans._

" _Get rid of them," said Cuttlefish._

" _What?" said Agent 3. "Fight them?"_

" _Yes,"_

" _But…gramps. They aren't wearing any goggles or shades. They seem to be different from the Octarian Army. Maybe they aren't-"_

" _Octarians CAN'T be trusted! You know it! What if they are here trying to get to Inkopolis and attack there? You know that these octolings show no mercy."_

" _We don't have evidence of that!"_

" _I agree with Captain Cuttlefish," said General Jus. "You know how reckless and relentless the Octarians are. I say we get down there and arrest them 'till we get some answers from them."_

 _Agent 3 sighed. "OK."_

 _Back down below, Agent 8 and 9 were examining the platform._

" _This must be a large balcony," said 8. "It's out in the open."_

" _Hey!" said a voice._

 _Agent 8 and 9 looked up. They saw a small flying UFO platform and there were their biggest nightmare; Agent 3 and General Jus._

" _Drop your weapons and put your hands in the air," said General Jus threatening. "NOW."_

 _Agent 8 and 9 realized that they forgot that going up to the surface meant seeing the Inklings; including Agent 3 and General Jus. They knew that they were strong competitors. They remembered that they lost a fight against them and now it's the time to finish it off. But they had to be careful. Those inklings already defeated Octavio. So the best thing to do was to do nothing._

" _Well?" said General Jus impatiently. "Surrender or fight?"_

" _Fi-" said Agent 9 but was cut off._

" _Just let us go," said Agent 8. "We mean no harm so be good agents and just let us be."_

 _General Jus curled his fist. He was gripping his charger so hard that his knuckle was white. "Let you go? Let you cause destruction to Inkopolis and steal the Great Zapfish. You still consort with the Octarians and-"_

" _Consort? What do you think we are? Musicians?" snorted Agent 9. He drew his Octo Shot. "Here is my fiddlestick and it will make you dance!"_

 _Agent 8 wanted Agent 9 not to fight, but he was powered by hatred and he probably wanted to show them they didn't like to be call smack._

" _Jedi," said Agent 3. "I think we should just let them go."_

" _Not a chance," growled General Jus. He jumped and did a flip before landing on the platform in a dramatic way._

 _Without aiming, he used his charger to shoot two long lines on lime ink. Agent 9 was able to do a backflip avoiding the ink while Agent 8 dodged to the side. The two quickly hid behind two buildings, separated from each other._

" _Jedi!" said Agent 3. "Stop!"_

" _What are you waiting for?" said Cuttlefish through her headset. "You can't just stand there!"_

 _Agent 3 sighed and muttered under her breath, "I'm going to regret this."_

 _She did a flip as she jumped off and landed with a Splashdown. Right next to Agent 8._

 _8 was blown and flew through the air, landing next to Agent 9. Agent 3 pointed her Hero Shot 2.0 at them and shoot lime ink. 8 and 9 quickly swam away and took cover behind another small building._

" _This ends now!" said General Jus. "Surrender or die!"_

" _Oh, gosh," groaned Agent 9. "Sister, I'm going to distract them."_

" _What?" said Agent 8._

" _I'm going to keep them busy, but do me a favor; defeat them for me."_

 _8 sighed reluctantly. "OK then…"_

 _Agent 9 came out of his hiding place._

" _Hey!" he yelled. "Come and get me."_

 _At this, General Jus fired, but 9 dodged the ink as he did a backflip and landed on another small building. Jus and Agent 3 kept firing, but 9 was fast. He was doing flips as he dodged the flying lime ink._

 _Suddenly, Agent 3 was able to shoot him. 9 fell on his back, groaning in pain._

 _General Jus and Agent 3 went close to him; Jus held up his charger while 3 just watched in concern._

" _Last chance," growled Jus._

 _Agent 8 just gave him a glare. "Never."_

 _General Jus was about to press the trigger when they heard a noise._

" _Not this time," said Agent 8's voice._

 _General Jus and Agent 3 looked behind. They saw Agent 8, with her special; the Inkjet._

 _She flew and used her blaster to shoot large balls of red-pink ink at 3 and Jus._

 _BOOM!_

 _3 and Jus went flying over Agent 9 and landed at the corner of the platform._

" _Oh, hell no," said Jus. His charger was only a few meters away from him._

 _Agent 8 and 9 pointed their Octo Shots at the inklings. Quickly, Agent 3 pointed her Hero Shot 2.0 and stood in front of General Jus; protecting the latter.  
There was tension between the three. 8 and 9 were ready to shoot; fingers were on the triggers. Agent 3 was holding onto her gun when she remembered. Those two octolings, they were the ones she didn't choose to harm._

 _8 and 9 noticed that 3's hand started to shake. Agent 3 felt guilt again. She didn't want to fight the Octarians anymore. She didn't want always to be the enemy of them. Finally, she did something nobody expected her to do._

 _SHE THREW HER HERO SHOT 2.0 AWAY AND IT WENT OVER THE PLATFORM._

 _8 and 9 were shocked. General Jus was speechless._

" _Agent 3?" said Cuttlefish. "What are you-"_

 _CLICK!_

 _Agent 3 turned off her headset, ignoring Cuttlefish. She slowly went towards Agent 8 and 9. The two octolings still held onto their guns. Then, 3 stopped. She then held up her hand._

 _Agent 8 and 9 were shocked. What was she doing? They looked at 3's face. She looked…guilty. After all of what happened two years ago, 3 had enough. She was tired of being forced to hurt Octarians and it's time to settle things down. It's time to make a change._

 _Agent 3 started to speak. "I'm…"_

 _She was cut off when she looked up and screamed. 8 and 9 turned around. They saw Cuttlefish – unconscious – falling to the platform. Agent 3 quickly ran towards him and grabbed him before he hit the ground._

 _Out of the blue, an unidentified fighter appeared. It appeared to be an octoling, but her skin was sickly green and her hair was blue with green tips. Using her Octo Shot, she shot at Agent 8 and 9._

 _The ink hit 8 and 9 in the face. They screamed as they fell. General Jus looked at them in disbelief. They were in bad condition; they were groaning in pain and holding onto their head. Some green turquoise sparkles appeared on their head. Something was not right. This ink was not like any ordinary ink._

 _General Jus got up and charged towards the sanitized octoling in the classic kung-fu kick position. But the octoling bend backwards missing the attack. When General Jus landed, he realized that. Before he could turn around, the octoling whipped out a frying pan and hit him on the back of the head; the ONLY part his helmet didn't cover up. The knock KNOCKED General Jus and he fell on the ground._

 _Meanwhile, Agent 3 checked if Cuttlefish was OK. His heart was still beating which was good, but who the heck would come up and attacked an elderly.  
_ " _Hey!" she snarled as she turned around only to be hit by the frying pan._

 _Stars danced around her pounding head. She was trying to keep her balance and his vision was blurring in and out. She tried to see what was that, but all she was able to make out of the blurry form was a green-skinned octoling._

 _That was the last thing she knew before she closed her eyes and fell on the floor._

* * *

Agent 8 and 9 quickly snapped out from their memory and breathed heavily.

"Are…" said Agent 3. "Are you alright?"

8 looked up. "I…remember now. We…we did fight."

"What?" said Cuttlefish. "So it was you two all along?"

Agent 8 sighed. "Yes. We were trying to get to Inkopolis, but we weren't trying to get the Great Zapfish. We were just trying to LIVE on the surface. We came to Mount Nantai because I wanted to see it."

"Wait," said Agent 3 remembering the fight they had. "So you DIDN'T try to hunt us down. It's just that you were curious about that temple, right?"

"Yes," said Agent 9.

"And that ink that hit you in the face…that…that must be why you lost your memories!"

"What?!" said Cuttlefish. "But that's impossible. People can't lose their memory by being shot with ink in the head!"

"But that's not any ordinary ink," pointed out Agent 9. "That ink looks like turquoise dishwasher detergent. And when you touch it, it stings and feels like dry ice."

"He's right," said Agent 3. "That ink might have dangerous chemicals in it. When it hit 8's and 9's head, it might have infected the brain and blocked ALL your memories."

"Geez," said Agent 8. "Now you mention about it; I wouldn't want to come close to that ink again."

"Now we know why you lost your memories and why you were at Mount Nantai," said Agent 3. "What I want to know is WHY were you two trying to get there? There must be a reason why you wanted to live in a new place."

Agent 8 was about to speak but hesitated. She now knew the answer, but she couldn't say it. She didn't want to explain that she and 9 were trying to escape the oppression of the Octarian society. They didn't want to say that they had been bullied. It would make them looked weak and pathetic. They knew that Cuttlefish and Agent 3 cared for them, but they found it hurtful to say it. What's the point if NOBODY ever understood them?

Judging by Agent 9's face, he seemed to have the same thought. He and 8 looked at each other.

"It's best to not tell them about it," they both thought. "What they don't know won't hurt."

Agent 8 looked at Agent 3 and said, "Nothing."

Agent 3 raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "C'mon. There must be a reason why you were trying to get to Inkopolis other than bringing terror."

"I'm saying that it was nothing."

"Saying nothing is not an excuse."

"Whatever," said Agent 9. "Right now, I think we are wondering how we could get out of here. You said you were at the top of the facility when you woke up, right?"

"Yeah," said Agent 3. "It's out in the open."

" _Gimme a second,_ " said Marina. " _I'll see if I can access Agent 3's CQ-80._ "

"Why's that?" asked Agent 9.

"Wait," said Agent 3. "Who are you talking to?"

" _Oops…_ " said Marina. " _Just hold for a second. I'll connect to Agent 3's headset and her CQ-80._ "

Marina finally connected her mic to Agent 3's headset so she could communicate with them.

" _There we go,_ " said Marina with Agent 3 able to hear.

"Who's calling?" said Agent 3.

"Ah, hello there. I'm Marina."

" _I'm Pearl,_ " said Pearl.

" _And here's Oro,_ " said Oro.

"Wait. WHAT?!" said Agent 3 in surprise. "Is this Off the Hook?"

" _Yeah,_ " said Pearl proudly. " _You'd heard of us?_ "

"I DO know you!" said Agent 3. "Are you helping gramps and the two octolings here?"

" _Yeah,_ " said Oro. " _We've been helping them at all time. BTW, do I know you before? Your voice sounds familiar._ "

"Yes, you do. I'll explain later when we see each other."

" _I found blueprints in the entire Kamabo Corporation's test facility from Agent 3's CQ-80!_ " said Marina. " _I think we can use them to get you guys outta there!_ "

"Yeah," said Agent 3. "But there's still a problem. We don't know how to get to the safety of Inkopolis! There isn't some kind of vehicle at the top of the facility to get us to the city. Not even a BOAT!"

" _Don't worry!_ " said Pearl. " _We'll come to get you guys in the chopper, so wait up there, OK?_ "

" _The chopper?_ " said Marina. " _But, we don't have a helicopter._ "

" _I could call Mary,_ " said Oro. " _She's a pilot and the leader of her group of pilots. She's free tonight._ "

"So what are you guys waiting for?" said Agent 8. "Let's go!"

"For starters," said Agent 3. "Let's go through the hole that General Jus and I made."

"I should wait here until General Jus wakes up," said Cuttlefish. "No squids left behind! You three go on ahead."

"You?" said Agent 8.

"Don't worry. I can still take care of myself. Now go on ahead. I'll see you later with General Jus."

"Be safe, Captain," said Agent 9.

Agent 8 looked at Agent 3 who was looking at General Jus.

"Please wake up soon, Jedi," 3 said sadly.

"Let's go," said Agent 9.

3, 8 and 9 turned into their octopus form (3 in her squid form) and jumped through the hole, unaware of the danger ahead.

* * *

As Agent 3, 8 and 9 got onto a building, they immediately hid behind a wall for cover.

At this, Agent 3's hair changed to red-pink with lime tips.

"How can you do that?" said Agent 8.

"ANYONE can change their hair color," said Agent 3. "I'm just doing it so that I can swim in your ink."

"OK," said 8. "We just have to get through those sanitized Octarians…"

"Get to the top of the facility…" said 9.

"And wait for Cuttlefish and Jus there," said 3 finishing their sentence.

"You got your weapons," said 9 showing his Octo Shot.

"Yep," said 8.

Agent 3 laugh sheepishly.

"Wait a minute," said 8. "You don't have your weapon, right?"

"Yeah," said 3. "I threw it away during our fight. Also, I had to let go of my ink tank."

"What happened to your ink tank?" said 9.

"Uh…"

* * *

Meanwhile, someplace else, upon waking up, a sanitized Octarian screamed as it struggled to get out of a house-size puddle of urine spilt by Agent 3's broken ink tank.

* * *

"What?" said Agent 9 when Agent 3 finished telling the whole story. "You're squidding me, aren't you?"

3 blushed in embarrassment.

Agent 9 put his hand over his forehead in disgust. "You know what, never mind. Let's get the hell out of this place."

And so, they continued.

Agent 8 and 9 were both trained in an army, but none of their training – real of fake – had them prepared for a long parkour course. It was difficult with enemies and obstacles appearing from nowhere. Luckily, they still had their advantages; 8 could master shoot, 9 was acrobatic and 3 was agile and quick.

However, when they got to Intestinal Phase, things got a bit tense. They opened to the hallway. They gasped. There were turquoise laser beams everywhere. Some of them were moving.

" _Whoa,_ " said Pearl. " _This security system doesn't look very friendly…_ "

"Hmm…" said Agent 3. "This reminds me of that funny spy movie I watched last week!"

"Ha ha," said Agent 9 trying to laugh but it sounded a bit flat.

"Let's go," said Agent 8.

With skills, they were able to make it through many laser beams; not for Agent 8 though. All she did was inked walls and floors so that she could swim through it and avoided the laser beams.

"I believe there will be a hole somewhere around here," said Agent 3.

But there wasn't. They found themselves at a dead end.

"What?" said 3. "I…I swear it's somewhere here!"

" _Blah…blah blah…_ " said a mysterious voice. " _…Y…yo…_ "

" _Hm?_ " said Cuttlefish. " _Whatwhatwhat?_ "

" _What's up, Cap?_ " said Pearl. " _Is General Jus awake?_ "

There was a groan coming from General Jus.

" _Ow…_ " said Jus. " _What the hey? My head._ "

" _General Jus!_ " said Cuttlefish.

" _Gramps?_ " said Jus in joy. " _Gramps! I'm so happy to see you!_ "

 _"It's good to see you too."_

 _"Wait, where's Agent 3."_

 _"She's doing fine. She's helping somebody that accompanied me to get to the surface. We can catch up with them."_

"Yes!" said Agent 3. "Finally!"

"And about time too!" said Agent 8.

Suddenly, the floor started to shake.

"What's going on?" said Agent 9.

There was an opening noise. The three felt something underneath them. They looked down.

The floor below them was gone. They were standing on NOTHING.

ABSOLUTELY nothing.

And below them was a hole.

And they fell.

CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

* * *

 **10 seconds later…**

OOF!

"Ow," said Agent 8 rubbing her head.

"So that was where that hole was," said Agent 3.

8 looked around and realized something. "Wait a minute, where's 9?"

"Oh dear," said 3. "We must have been separated from him when we fell!"

" _Guys,_ " said 9 through their headsets. " _Where are you?_ "

"Somehow, there are two tunnels here!" said 3. "You must be in one and we are in another one!"

" _Blah blah…Y…You…_ " said the mysterious voice again.

"What's that?" said 8.

" _YOU!_ " screamed the telephone. " _You measly scrap of seafood! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!_ "

" _Huh?_ " said General Jus. " _What the…_ "

All of a sudden, he screamed.

" _ARGH!_ " yelled Jus. " _Get it off! Get it off!_ "

" _Whaaaa?!_ " said Cuttlefish. " _Telephone! What are you doing to General Jus?_ "

" _HELP! SOMEBODY HELP, PLEASE! ARGHHHHH!_ "

"Jedi!" screamed Agent 3.

But there was no response from Jedi/General Jus. He went silent.

" _Number 10,008 and 10,009,_ " said the telephone. " _Why are you associating with these superfluous nobodies?_ "

" _GYAAAAAAAAAHHHH!_ " screamed Cuttlefish.

"Cap!" said 8. "Cuttlefish? What happened? Answer!"

"Gramps!" said 3. "What's happening? Please!"

They looked at each other in fear.

"I can't get a signal from those two!" said Agent 3. "We lost contact with them."

Suddenly, Agent 9 was yelling over their headsets.

" _Get back you!_ " he was saying. " _Get BACK!_ "

"Brother!" said 8. "What's going on?"

" _DES. TROY,_ " said the familiar voice of the sanitized octolings.

" _ARGH!_ " screamed 9.

KABOOM!

A loud explosion came over their ears. Their ears were ringing.

"Oh no!" said 8. "Pearl. Marina. Oro. Can you guys contact them?"

" _We can't!_ " said Oro in panic. " _We lost the signal of Cuttlefish, General Jus and Agent 9. We can't get to them._ "

"Oh my gosh," said Agent 3.

Agent 8 felt pain in her body. This was worse than the last few horrible moments she encountered. This was even worse than touching the sanitized ink.

She lost Cuttlefish; even though they were different, she found him as a father-figure. And 9 – her dear brother – is killed. They're gone. 8 didn't have the proper time to say goodbye.

She knew that she would be heading to a bad fate, but she didn't know at what cost — all she knew that she lost those who she loved.

"Darn it," said Agent 3. "The hole just closed. Should we just keep going or do we come back for them?"

She heard Agent 8 groaning. She was holding onto her head.

"8?" said 3.

Agent 8 screamed in agony as she collapsed on her knees.

"Oh no!" said 3. "What's wrong? Was it something I said?"

Agent 8 was too far gone to understand – or even to hear – what 3 was saying to her. All she could hear was the painful memories in her head.

 _"Ha ha ha! If you want us to stop, then why are you so weak?"_

 _"HOPELESS! YOU CALL YOURSELF A SOLDIER?!"_

 _"Says who? The girl who quits the army to become more WEAKER."_

 _"Bad news. It looks like playtime is over, weakling!"_

Those words kept going through 8's head like a loop song. She felt as if there's guilt, fear and worry filled up in her stomach making a toxic mix. None of this would happen if she was …weak.

 **Weak.**

The word rang in her head.

"AGENT 8!" yelled Agent 3. " **WHAT'S GOING ON?!** "

8 now snapped back into reality and the present and there was 3, standing tall.

"8," she said. "Look at me."

Agent 8 didn't look up.

"I'll say it again," said Agent 3. "WHAT. Is. Going. On?"

"I…," said 8. "I can't do this."

3 was flabbergasted. "What do you mean you can't do this?"

"…," Agent 8 was silent for a while. "You know what? I CAN'T do this. I've failed many times. Why do I even BOTHER?"

Agent 3 was silent. She thought that Octarians were all strong, always think they were perfect and didn't give up, but she didn't imagine one just octoling…well, thought she's weak.

"Why do you think you're WEAK?" said Agent 3.

"J…" stuttered Agent 8 tearfully. "The Octarian Army always expect every soldier to be strong and never fail a mission, but I fail. Every time I tried to do my best, I would screw up! I don't have what it takes to escape. I'm…weak."

Feeling anger, 8 pointed at Agent 3. "And if you WANT to KNOW, you could ask those jerks back at my home! That's the reason why I ran away from home. To escape being bullied. But what does it matter? You wouldn't care would you?!"

Agent 3 was speechless. Agent 8 started to break down. Agent 3 saw that she was in that same position before – giving up so easily and accepting reality. She knew what to do and knew EXACTLY how she felt.

"8," 3 said again. "Look at me."

8 looked up.

"Listen," said 3. "I don't like - or know - what's been happening so far, but would you stop right there?"

8 bit her lips. "…No…but-"

"But nothing! You got here so far and you're just losing hope already when we are almost at the finish line!"

"But…only a strong person would escape out of this blasted facility easily! I can't be that man because…I was weak. If only I weren't weak, none of this would happen."

Suddenly, Agent 3 pulled her up and hugged her.

"What?" said 8. "What are you…?"

"I'm weak too," said 3. "I'm not as strong as General Jus and I don't usually succeed in missions. Two years ago, when Cuttlefish was captured, I was upset that I couldn't save him. But the rest of the agents gave me another chance and I never gave up…to make mistakes again…to learn again…to know who I am again. You have gone this far and I know that you couldn't do it because you couldn't do it by YOURSELF."

Agent 8 felt tears in her eyes. "…But…the Octarian Army expect anyone to succeed without any help-"

"Now don't go tell me again what the Octarian Army said."

"But that's the truth…they only want the best of the best…and they want to pick on the weak as they DON'T BELONG THERE. Like they aren't meant to be BORN. Don't you see? **The world isn't NICE.** The world only needs the best and skilled people and just wants to throw the weak out like garbage! I am one of them. I'm not MEANT TO LIVE. Do you think that I will always be INFERIOR? Have you ever thought of THAT BEFORE or is it you don't know because you're **too selfish or STUPID?!** "

Agent 3 let go and looked at Agent 8 in disbelief. "Uh, HELLO?! Did I say that I was PERFECT before? Probably it's the other inklings, not ME."

" _Yeah,_ " said Oro, feeling guilty. " _I know what you meant. Inklings up here – right now – always like to brag about themselves. I have to admit – I can get a bit too far of myself. The truth is, if the weak aren't supposed to live, then why are YOU still living? You are not weak…I mean, EVERYONE is not weak._ "

"Yes," said 3. "I'm not always perfect. NOBODY'S perfect. Titles and trophies have no values to anyone. True perfection is anonymous, but the true perfection is being together. It doesn't matter what people say or what the past say. What matters now is that you can still need to keep going for the future. You're an octoling. A fine living form made by God himself. As long as you live, you still have a purpose for the world."

Agent 8 looked at 3's turquoise eyes. Maybe she's right. This changed EVERYTHING. Like every Octarian, she was supposed to train and be better. To overcome the inklings who were thought to only care for themselves. But Cuttlefish was an inkling, yet he decided to show mercy to her and 9. She thought that Agent 3 would be sadistic and fought all who stood against her. But so far, what the Octarians were told were lies; Inklings weren't evil and Agent 3 was no monster. So probably, 3 was right. NOBODY'S perfect.

8 started to cry again, drowning in tears.

"Come here," said 3 embracing for another hug. "Don't be sad. You're strong."

This time, Agent 8 made no signs of disturbance. She put her arms around 3 and 3 put her arms around 8. For some reason, Agent 8 smiled.

For the first time, she felt happy. TRUE happiness. Though crying, nothing could cover up her smile. For so long, she was being tormented, beaten, smacked, punched, laughed at and being known as a weakling for so long, only having to look up for 9, but she never knew that someone else cared for her.

Finally, after a long time, Agent 3 let go. "Let's go."

"I'm…," said Agent 8. "I still feel sad that my brother and Cuttlefish are gone."

"It's OK," said 3 tearfully. "We have to get moving. It's what they would have wanted for us to do."

"We are…still going to get our butts kicked in this. You know."

"Yeah, but don't worry. We will get there."

* * *

 **AN: Will they? What happened to Captain Cuttlefish and General Jus? Is Agent 9 really dead?**

 **You have to find out in the next chapter! Hope you like this chapter!**

 **I got to say, how Agent 8 struggles with her self-esteem is almost the same like how it happens in my first story; Forces United. Both stories explores the theme of self-esteem, the will to be strong and facing being bullied or mistreated.**

 **If you like this story: follow or favorite this story for updates of the story. Make sure to review this chapter on what you thought of this story. I'm OK of hearing improvements from you (please no flames).**

 **Until next time, Merry Christmas (or would I say _Merry Squidmas?_** **)!**


	9. Struggle of Losing Control

**AN: Hey there! Here is the next chapter! Also, Mary from Chapter 1 returns and will be a major character for this story!**

* * *

 **Chapter 9 - Struggle of Losing Control**

Agent 3 and 8 arrived at Spinal Phase. They looked around. They were in a huge room and in the middle was a large tube. The walls had blue glass surrounding it.

" _That's the central elevator,_ " said Marina. " _The battery is in there!_ "

" _You can make it to the surface with this!_ " said Pearl.

" _Captain Cuttlefish's and General Jus's signals are close!_ " said Oro. " _We just pick up their signal!_ "

"What?!" said Agent 8 in surprise.

"Maybe they already made it to the surface while we were busy," said Agent 3. "That means that they are still alive!"

"I hope that they would be OK…"

3 and 8 went onto the zipline and headed towards the elevator.

"Wait a minute," said Agent 8. "But if Cuttlefish and General Jus were behind us, how did they get there?"

Agent 3 shrugs. "I don't know. Maybe there's some kind of shortcut they've found."

Suddenly, a voice came into their headsets.

" _Hi there!_ " said a female voice. " _I'm Admiral Mary. I'm going to use the chopper to fly to you so wait up at the surface._ "

"Got it," said Agent 8 though she was unsure of who Admiral Mary is.

3 and 8 got to the elevator. Much to their surprise, they found Agent 9 there.

"Brother!" said 8 in joy as she put her arms around him.

"Ah," said 9 happily. "Good to see you too."

"You scared me to death. Where have you been?"

"I was attacked by some sanitized octolings. In the process, I broke my headphones which is why I lost contact."

That's when 8 noticed that he wasn't wearing his Squidfin Hook Cans. 9 took out his headphones from his ink tank and showed it to her. It was torn in half. His round ears were now showing.

"OK," said 8. "Let's get out of here."

"How does this thing work?" said 9.

"There's some pad on a wall somewhere here," said 3 looking around. Finding the pad on the wall, she pressed on it and the small platform below them raised them up to a larger platform.

"Going up!" said Agent 3 pressing the pad again. This time, the larger platform lifted them up.

"Well that was easy," said 8.

Agent 3 looked at Agent 9. She saw his two different eyes. One eye purple. One eye red. She raised an eyebrow.

"What is it?" said 9.

"9," said 3. "How come your eyes have different colors? How did you get them when you were born?"

Agent 8 tried to signal her not to say that, but it was too late. At this Agent 9 instantly covered up his left eye with his left hand. He curls up his right hand which started to glow red.

"Don't say things about my eyes," he growled.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said Agent 3 coolly. "It's just a question. What's wrong with heterochromia?"

Before Agent 9 could even say why, they felt that they were NOT rising. The elevator didn't go up NOR down.

IT WAS STUCK.

"Huh?" said Agent 8. "It stopped?"

Agent 3 looked at the pad. "For some reason, it stopped. Don't worry. I can still use it-"

"Who's up there?" said Agent 9 pointing at a figure on a tall building.

It was a familiar looking figure wearing a dark grey cape.

"That's General Jus!" said Agent 8. "But…"

They noticed he's wielding a Hero Shot 1.0 and his hair was…green turquoise.

They noticed behind him was a flying UFO and tied to it was Cuttlefish.

"GYAH!" screams Cuttlefish as he was hanged upside down. "Agent 3? 8? 9? Help me!"

General Jus turned around to reveal showing something. THERE'S A GIANT GREEN TURQUOISE GOO ON HIS RIGHT EAR. And his eyes were FULLY turquoise.

"What the-" said Agent 8.

"The hell is wrong with Jus?!" said 9.

"General Jus' mind was hijacked by that crazy phone!" explained Cuttlefish.

At this, the sanitised General Jus jumped and did a flip. His hair was sparkling.

"Oh no," said Agent 3 knowing what this meant. "RUN!"

BOOM!

3, 8 and 9 jumped out of the way just in time before General Jus landed with a Splashdown.

Without stopping, General Jus looked up and started flinging curling bombs at them.

"Watch out!" said 3 jumping onto a small building.

Agent 9 quickly did a backflip and land on one of the small building. 8 wasn't lucky. The curling bombs exploded around her.

"ARGH!" she said as she was thrown back.

"Take down General Jus and get rid of that weird glowing goo on his head!" said Cuttlefish.

Agent 8 threw a splat bomb at General Jus, but he dodged it. He's going too fast!

"Darn!" said Agent 3. "The telephone is taking advantage of Jus' abilities!"

Quickly Agent 9 managed to shoot General Jus on the head. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to knock the goo off.

The sanitized inkling came in for another kill. As Agent 8 took cover behind one of the building, she recalled the first time she fought 3 and Jus. But this was different. General Jus was too powerful. If this was karma, it sucked.

General Jus jumped on the UFO platform – where Cuttlefish was tied to – and started throwing splash bombs at them.

"INKCOMING!" yell Agent 3.

3 and 9 quickly ran before they were hit by the balloon bombs. Green turquoise ink flew everywhere. Finally, General Jus came back on the platform, with a BALLER.

" _Are you serious?_ " said Pearl. " _This is way too many specials!_ "

" _It looks like the Hero Shot 1.0 he's wielding is a modified weapon,_ " said Marina. " _That telephone…*ksssh*…removed…*ksssh*…the limiter._ "

"Marina?" said Agent 8 noticing that Marina was losing signal. "What's going on with you?"

" _Sorry…_ " said Oro. " _We are…*ksssh*…on the chopper already…*ksssh*…we are going through raining weather and…*ksssh*…the signal is bad in bad weather…*ksssh*…just hold on…*kssssshhhhhhhhh*…_ "

"Guys?" said 8 in panic. "Pearl. Marina. Oro. CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"

But there was no response from them. They lost the signal. Meanwhile, Agent 9 was trying to shoot the goo on General Jus' head, but he kept dodging them. At this, Jus took out another special; a LARGE bazooka.

"It's that…" said 9.

"Yeah," said 3, going white in fear. "It is…"

That's when Jus fired the Inkzooka, letting off a large tornado of green turquoise ink.

"HOLY CARP!" said 3. " **RUN!** "

The tornado was too fast. It hit 3 and 9, causing them to fly in the air. Seeing this, Agent 8 came out of her hiding place and shoot. This time, it hit General Jus' Hero Shot 1.0, causing the weapon to fly in the air and over the platform.

Taking a chance, Agent 9 was about to fire his Octo Shot when General Jus charged and kung-fu kicked him in the face. 9 fell on the ground with a painful groan. Jus was about to do the final punch blow when Agent 3 came up and punched Jus at the back of the head.

BANG!

But it wasn't enough. General Jus turned around and looked at Agent 3. His face looked TRIGGERED. Agent 3 smiled sheepishly.

Ready to fight, General Jus cracked his knuckles. Suddenly his hands were glowing…RED! Agent 8 shudders. She didn't know Jus' hands could glow red as well. Something was wrong.

Realizing this, Agent 3 quickly took a step back and got into the self-defense position. Jus was about to maul when 9 turned into his octopus form and flew into Jus' stomach causing the two to fly through the air. They both landed heavily on the ground.

"C'mon!" said 9 as he turned back to his human form. "Let's go!"

They both get up. Agent 9 came in for a punch, but General Jus blocked that by grabbing his fist. At this, Just jumped and kicked 9 in the face.

 _"Ha ha ha! If you want us to stop, then why are you so weak?"_

Quickly getting up, Agent 9 tried to punch General Jus downwards, but Jus dodged the punch and kicked 9 in the face again.

 _"A freak with two different eyes?"_

Agent 9 growled as he heard the voice in his head. He started punching, but Jus put his hands up in defense, avoiding being hit in the face.

As she watched, Agent 8 noticed that 9's left eye is changing reddish.

"Oh no," she thought. "Please don't let that happen again."

Finally, General Jus punched 9 in the face and brought the final kick.

BOOT!

Agent 9 flew in the air and hit one of the platform's poles. He was in bad condition. He was bruised and he was close to being unconscious.

The sanitized General Jus turned around and started to advance slowly to Agent 3. Now his body was glowing red. Agent 8 gulped. Something was VERY wrong for both Agent 9 and Jus.

"Jedi," said Agent 3 hoping that Jus would come back to his sense. "Please snap out of it."

General Jus – still under control of the telephone – continued to walk slowly to 3, his hands curled into fists.

"Gee," said Agent 3. "This seems to be like during the ninth time I ticked you off. Remember? That was during one of your karate lessons when we were practicing throwing sticks on fire and I accidentally threw one at you, causing your butt to go on fire. I don't want to be punched in the face again so…please STOP. Oh. Now I thought about it; you know what's funny; it's unusual for you – a person who is ONE YEAR younger than me – could be stronger than me…"

As Agent 3 blathered on, Agent 9 lifted his head. He saw General Jus, ready to kill 3. Suddenly, he felt an urge of pain to his head.

 _"Ha ha ha! If you want us to stop, then why are you so weak?"_

Growling in agony, he held onto his head.

 _"A freak with two different eyes?"_

 _"That's right; you two are PATHETICALLY weak."_

 _"HOPELESS! YOU CALL YOURSELF A SOLDIER?!"_

Out of nowhere, a new batch of voices came into his head. He remembered; it was almost what EVERY Octarian said about his eyes.

 _"Ha ha ha! Look at that freak."_

 _"Why would that weirdo have different eyes?"_

 _"Ew. That looks disgusting."_

 _"I don't understand why you decided to join the Octarian Army. Do you think that you will be like one of us? Do you think you won't be a freak anymore?"_

Agent 9 started yelling in agony, his closed eyes letting out tears. Those voices were playing like a song on loop. Suddenly, a voice came in.

 _"Now don't cry to me, but if it's those jerks, suck it up."_

9 curled up his fists. His hands were glowing red.

 _"You can't always listen to them. You need to PROVE THEM WRONG."_

He felt anger rising through his body

 _"You can't be weak. If you do, you'll be a man's food."_

9 opened his eyes slowly. Everything looked red to him. Things were bad enough, but he had ENOUGH. He's done being called a freak and he shouldn't stay down there weak. He got up slowly. He closed his eyes again, shaking — his hands curled into fists. Agent 8 saw this.

"Oh no," thought 8. 9 had gone too far. It seemed that he was going over his temper limit and it was going to be an ugly brawl soon.

 _"If you can't take it, take REVENGE on them. And to do that…"_

And that was when 8's nightmare came true; 9 opened his eyes. Both of his eyes were GLOWING RED.

 _"…KILL them."_

A bloodcurdling scream filled the elevator. General Jus looked around to see where it was coming from only to face with Agent 9's fist. He was knocked onto the floor. General Jus tried to get up, but 9 came in for a kick.

Agent 8 watched in horror at the scene. Agent 9's eyes were both red. His entire body was glowing red like Jus. He lost control of himself with now his anger controlling him.

Jus and 9 were fist fighting until 9 managed to punch the goo off Jus.

"NOOOOO!" screamed the voice of the telephone from Jus as it lost control of the inkling.

Now, General Jus came back to his normal senses and out of the telephone's mind control. His eyes changed from turquoise back to the normal blood red color. His hair turned back to lime green. His body was still glowing red. He hit the ground hard. Just before he could get up and settle, he felt hands grabbing his neck. In front of his eyes was an angry octoling strangling him.

Agent 8 shuddered. General Jus was already freed from the control of the telephone, but it seemed that Agent 9 was angry for some reason and letting his anger out by STRANGLING GENERAL JUS TO DEATH. She got to do something before 9 took the life of Jus!

And by the look on Agent 3's face, she has the same feeling as 8. 3 had seen a lot of aggressive octolings in her life before, but seeing one without wearing shades or goggles, that's scary.

"9!" Agent 3 said. "Please stop!"

Hearing this, Agent 9 looked up and glared at 3. He let go General Jus who have gone unconscious and no longer glow red.

Agent 9 growled.

"9?" said 3 confused. "You…do you hear me?"

The only response from Agent 9 was a growl. He got up and curled up his hands. Seeing that 9 was going to attack, 3 got into the kick position.

Screaming, Agent 9 charged and swung his fist at 3.

Or at least he thought.

8 was able to grab his fist. Just before 9 could draw in for another attack, 8 pulled him in and hugged him.

"Calm down now," said 8. "Please calm down. I'm here."

Hearing his sister's voice, Agent 9 started to see clearly. At first, everything was red, but then, everything faded to the normal colors and he saw in front of him was 8's face. As his anger melted away, he looked around. He saw an unconscious General Jus on the floor. He seemed to be still alive as he's still breathing.

"Oh…my…" said 9 as he broke away from the hug. He looked at Agent 3; she looked scared of what happened in the last frightful minutes. "…What…have…I…?"

He couldn't believe what he did. Out of his anger, he nearly killed General Jus and he nearly harmed 3. All of a sudden, the voices came back into his head.

 _"Ha ha ha! Look at that freak."_

 _"Why would that weirdo have different eyes?"_

 _"Ew. That looks disgusting."_

 _"I don't understand why you decided to join the Octarian Army. Do you think that you will be like one of us? Do you think you won't be a freak anymore?"_

He felt pain again. This time, he didn't snap. He looked down with his ears drooping. He muttered something in Octarian language under his breath.

Agent 3 noticed that 9's eyes were still both red. His left eye was once purple and now red. His body stopped glowing red.

"9," she said. "If you don't mind, why does your left eye change color? Is it something that happened at childbirth?"

Agent 9 was about to snap, but he couldn't get the will to be angry again. "Just…shut up. I don't want to talk about that."

"You mean your eyes?"

"Whatever. Please don't talk about them…"

Agent 3 raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong about them?"

Agent 9 curled up his fists. He was about to snap again, but he sighs sadly. He felt tears coming from his eyes. "You know what? I. HATE. Heterochromia."

Agent 3 looked curious. "And why's that?"

"Just…almost everyday…back underground…many Octarians…made fun of me for my eyes…I'm…so mad for getting these eyes. They…they say that I look like a freak and don't belong to the Octarian society! I'm just…"

Feeling gutted, Agent 9 started to face reality.

"…unusual."

"9," said Agent 3 coming close. "You know that having those different eyes aren't that bad…"

"You're just making a lie!" said 9 angrily. "The world isn't always your friend. You see, they only want to make their people and I'm not one of them. Nobody would like a person with heterochromia. And why do I EVEN EXIST? Do you know how hard I tried to fit in? How long THAT took? How I tried to tell them to stop? Getting stupid eyes makes you a TARGET! I…I don't know why I got them in the FIRST PLACE."

At this, 9 roughly pushed 3.

"I don't think I'm worth living for…"

"So you're just saying that you're giving up," said 3. "You just don't want to live anymore."

"What?" said 9. "No no! It's doesn't have to do with that!"

"It DOES have with everything you thought!" said 3 firmly. "Stop thinking about the past! You know that right?! Not everybody looks perfect! There are more people out there who are like you; unusual, different. But that is how God created this world. I know why you don't like your eyes. I know why those Octarians made fun of you. But you're just letting emotion cloud your better judgement. Nothing is perfect NOR looks perfect in shape. Stop being so negative. The good thing about people being different is that they're special and THOUGHTFUL, unlike the others. You're still a living being on Earth and you're just discriminating yourself just because of two small eyes?"

Agent 9 was speechless AND wasn't feeling angry. But he couldn't find truth in 3's words.

"Do…" he sniffed. "Do you think the inklings will accept us?"

Agent 3 smiled. "I'm not so sure, but I think most of them will. The Great Turf War was already over A CENTURY AGO so they won't be too mad to see octolings around. Inklings are not bad. It didn't matter what those jerks said about you back underground. What matter is what the people find important about you."

Agent 9 looked down. His left eye turned back to purple.

"I'm…" he stuttered. "…Sorry for what I did…I didn't mean to cause harm…"

"It's ok," said Agent 3 hugging 9. "I know you don't mean to. It's just that you can't help it."

Agent 9 felt uncomfortable, but he didn't struggle to get out of the hug. He just let it be as tears came out from his eyes. He looked up at Agent 8, who smiled back.

"Oh," said Agent 3. "I haven't introduced myself properly. I'm Olivia. Olivia Classy."

"UNTIE ME AT ONCE!" said Cuttlefish.

"Oh," said 8 looking up. "Sorry, we forgot about you."

She tried to aim her Octo Shot at the rope that tied up Cuttlefish but only shot Cuttlefish, covering him in pink ink.

"Untie me!" said Cuttlefish as he shook the ink off. "Not SHOOT me!"

"Oops," said 8, this time, shooting the rope.

Cuttlefish fell to the ground, but at this, Olivia quickly ran and caught him.

"Thanks 3," said Cuttlefish as Olivia started to untie the ropes.

"So Agent 3," said 8. "So you're real name is Olivia."

"Yeah," said Olivia.

"What about General Jus?" said 9 looking at the still-unconscious Jus.

"Well, his real name is Jedi."

"Is that why you call him that?"

"Yes."

Agent 8 looked worried. "Will he attack if he wakes?"

"I don't think so," said 9. "The goo is gone, so it's probably fine."

"Anyway," said Olivia. "What's your real name?"

"We don't know," said 8. "Me and 9 lost some of our memories, and we are still-"

Suddenly, 8 was cut off when something came in front of her and 9's eyes — something that's bigger than the memories they recalled.

"8?" said Olivia noticing that something is wrong. "9? Are you guys OK?"

"I…," said 8. "I remember…"

"What?" said Cuttlefish. "What is it?"

"My…," said 8 slowly. "My real name is Blossom."

"And…my real name is…Red," said 9.

"Blossom," said Olivia. "Red…those are nice names."

"I'm happy that you finally remembered your names," said Cuttlefish.

Blossom and Red smiled. They were able to recover some of their memories and now they were able to remember their names.

"Let's get going," said Olivia pressing on the pad and reactivating the elevator.

The elevator started to go up. It took a few seconds until it came to a stop. It stopped at a level and there's a very tall ladder that led to the high ceiling.

"That's the way out," said Olivia pointing up to some hole. "Let's go."

They went to the ladder. Red went first, Blossom went second, Olivia went third while carrying Jedi over her shoulder and behind them was Cuttlefish.

"Ah," said Olivia feeling tired. "Are we there yet?"

"But we just got onto the ladder 6 seconds ago!" said Cuttlefish.

It took about 3 and a half minutes to get to the top of the ladder. By the time they got there, Blossom's hands were numb and raw.

"Great," said Olivia. "Somebody closed the hatch."

"Hold onto me, sister," said Red.

He leaned back and with her free hand, Blossom put her hand under Red's back to prevent him from falling. Using his strength, Red easily pushed the hatch opened. As he did, a burst of light slowly came in. When Red got up, Blossom has to cover her eyes from the shining light. Red pulled Blossom out of the hatch and into the outside.

As Blossom got onto the surface, she looked around. She was on the top of the facility, right in the middle of the seas of Inkopolis. The water was choppy with a fine turquoise and blue gradient color. The sky had a nice yellow and pink gradient color with pink clouds in the sky. And that's when she saw the light.

As dawn began, Blossom saw a large ball of light coming up from the horizon behind the buildings on Inkopolis; the start of a new day. As she felt the wind blew her hair, she smiled. For so long, she had been struggling in the dark and now she completed her mission; find the light. She's free.

"It's…," she said. "It looks so beautiful."

"Yeah," said Olivia as she got up and stood beside Blossom. Her hair was turning back to lime green. "Sunrises are always the best things in the morning."

"Sunrise?"

"Yeah. You never saw one in your life?"

Blossom shook her head. "No. I've never known how a sunrise looks like."

"I guess it's that you've been hiding underground," said Olivia. "It might have been a long journey to escape, but YOU'VE MADE IT."

"I guess we did," said Red.

It was utterly silent with the wind howling. They were staring at the sunrise for a while when something breaks the moment.

" _La, la, la, la, la, la._ "

"What was that?" said Cuttlefish.

"I think that's…singing," said Blossom.

" _LA, LA, LA, LA, LA, LA._ "

"It's getting louder," said Red. "But where is it coming from?"

"Look!" said Olivia pointing up.

" _Can't touch me!_

 _Can't touch me!_

 _Come run, but you can't touch me!_

 _Can't touch me!_

 _Can't touch me!_

 _Come run, but you can't touch me!_ "

Where Olivia was pointing was a large fleet of helicopters with large beat boxes playing loud hip-hop music. In the middle of the fleet was a larger helicopter with a large blue platform connected to it by hard metal poles.

"GUYS!" said Pearl – screaming through her microphone. "WE GOT YOU!"

On that large helicopter, there were Pearl, Marina and Oro. Right beside them was Admiral Mary; a 15-year old female Inkling with long bangs that was orange with red tips and have purple eyes. She wears a Special Forces Beret, a White Inky Rider, shorts and Pink Whites. She gave them a wave.

Blossom, Red, Cuttlefish and Olivia watched from the facility as the helicopter came close to them. Pearl and Marina were dancing and signing to the beat of the song.

"We are going in," said Mary through her walkie-talkie. "All S Pilots, look around the facility in case there is anything suspicious."

At this, the smaller helicopters broke away from the group and started to fly around the facility while the large helicopter went down to the facility.

Blossom and Red felt the powerful wind from the helicopter blowing in their face. It's enough to blow them away.

"Off the Hook!" said Pearl. "At your service!"

"Hop on guys!" said Marina.

Blossom and Red got onto the blue platform connecting to the helicopter. Red helped Cuttlefish and Olivia to get up.

"Thanks, Red," said Cuttlefish.

"Wait," said Marina. "Who's Red?"

"Oh. Just before, Agent 8 and 9 remembered their names. 8 is Blossom and 9 is Red."

"Those are nice names."

"Olivia?" said Mary. "Is that you?"

Olivia looked up and smiled. "Yes. It is me."

"I knew you sound familiar," said Oro. "So the whole time, you're Agent 3?"

Olivia nodded as she gently placed Jedi onto the platform. Suddenly, Jedi groaned again.

"He's waking up!" said Olivia in joy.

Jedi slowly opened his eyes. He felt his head aching due to being hit in the head two times; his throat was stinging in pain. As he looked up, he saw Olivia.

"Olivia," he said. "Where are we? Is Cuttlefish with us? Did I missed anything?"

"You did miss a lot that happened," said Blossom.

The second Jedi saw Blossom and Red; he felt fear.

"Octolings!" he said trying to get back.

"Calm down, General Jus," said Cuttlefish. "These two octolings won't do harm."

"But we fought them before, right? And if my memory serves me right, was it THAT octoling who nearly strangled me to death?" said Jedi angrily pointing to Red. "And you have the NERVE to say that those octolings aren't bad?"

Red looked down, feeling guilty.

"Jedi," said Blossom. "Cuttlefish is telling the truth."

"That would be what an Octarian would say," said Jedi gruffly.

"I promise. I will tell you everything. I promise."

Jedi just stared at Blossom and sighed. Suddenly, he felt an urge of pain to his head. He groaned as he placed his hand on his head.

"Argh!" he said.

"Are you OK?" said Blossom. She noticed that Jedi's eyes were glitching a bit turquoise before returning to its normal red color.

"I'm OK," said Jedi trying to smile. "It's just that I don't feel so well - especially after that stupid telephone brainwashed me. I'm going to need a long rest after this."

"OK," said Mary through her walkie-talkie. "We're ready. Take us up. All S Pilots, follow us."

The large helicopter lifted them. The rest of the small helicopters escorted them.

"Phew," said Oro wiping his brow. "We could breathe easily now-"

He was cut off when Pearl starting rapping with Cuttlefish joining in.

"WE FLY HIGH, TOUCH THE SKY!" yelled Pearl.

"FIGHT HARD UNTIL THE DAY WE FRY!" rapped Cuttlefish.

"NO LIE, WE DON'T QUIT, DON'T YOU EVER FORGET!"

"Here we go again," grumbled Marina (to the rhythm of the rap).

Blossom was holding onto one of the poles, staring at the facility as they were going further away from it. Red went towards her.

"We may never see that place again," said Blossom. "And see those people still stuck in the facility."

"I bet we might visit the place someday," said Red. He noticed that Blossom looked worried. "What's wrong?"

"It's just that…even though we are out of trouble, I still feel like something dangerous is coming. Something ENORMOUS."

HISS!

They heard a loud sound. They looked down. They saw the facility rising up.

"Wow," said Red sarcastically. "Nice timing, sister."

Meanwhile, the rest of the guys were utterly oblivious to the facility rising, because of the rapping madness.

"WE STAY FRESH, NEVER FROZEN!" rapped Cuttlefish.

"REIGN SUPREME LIKE THE ONES CHOSEN!" rapped Pearl.

Jedi groaned as he held onto his head. The loud rapping was hurting his head so much. "You guys…"

"Um…" said Blossom. "Are you guys seeing this?"

Everybody looked at the rising facility. As it slowly rose, it revealed to be an ENORMOUS STONE STATUE. It resembled something; it had a face, curly hair and a cloak around its torso. Immediately, the helicopters stopped flying forwards and stayed in their position to see the statue.

"What…is…that?!" said Red.

"That form…" said Cuttlefish. "But they were said to have been destroyed so long ago. It's…HUMAN!"

But seeing the human statue was the least of their problems.

"Huh?" said Mary pointing to the left eye of the statue. "What's that?"

They all saw that in the left eye, it opened to reveal some kind of room with paper stuck onto the walls. There's a familiar-looking figure in there.

"Not that phone again!" said Olivia noticing the figure.

It WAS the telephone – mangled and freshly-kicked but still functioning – now covered in an oozing green turquoise goo.

" _TARTAR IN DA HOUSE!_ " yelled the telephone before disabling contemporary speech mode. " _I am TARTAR, an AI construct created 12,000 years ago by a brilliant professor. My prime directive is to pass humanity's vast knowledge onto the next worthy lifeform. When your kind became self-aware, I am hoping that my long wait is finally over. But as I observed your evolution, I WAS DISGUSTED! You wage war over MINOR genetic deviations and arguments. You OBSESS over trivial fashion choices. You think yourselves as SUPERIOR and see others as INFERIOR._ "

Jedi's and Olivia's face went white.

Pearl and Oro gulped.

Cuttlefish and Mary inhaled sharply.

Red glared at Olivia.

"'Inklings are not bad'. **HA!** " he snarled.

By the look on Olivia's face and Red's sarcasm, Blossom started to see what TARTAR was saying. As if TARTAR is a 'god', it seemed that the entire Inkling AND Octarian race was GUILTY.

" _And so,_ " continued TARTAR. " _I created a new prime detective; DESTROY THIS WORLD AND START ANEW! From the best and brightest test subjects, I created a sludge of supreme DNA. A primordial ooze from which the ultimate lifeform will emerge. A primordial ooze which anyone or anything that touches it; they will perish. Today is the day my vision becomes a reality, as I destroy Inkopolis and EVERYONE IN IT!_ "

"Wait," said Blossom. "Did it said 'destroy Inkopolis and EVERYONE IN IT'?!"

As if it's a response, the mouth of the statue opened up to reveal a large weapon coming out slowly. It had a nozzle – larger than a gun's nozzle – and some blenders were connecting to it as if they were ink tanks…wait a minute, blenders?

"Those blenders…" said Blossom.

"Are these…" said Red. "The thangs?"

"So that's it! TARTAR tried to kill us so that we could mix into that sludge it made."

"What?"

"It made many thangs, and when the test subjects found them, it would use them to kill!"

"Now you said it, I guess it wasn't worth finding the thangs. Quite scary though."

"Yo," said Pearl worriedly. "What the heck is that?!"

"Gimme a sec," said Marina pulling out her laptop and typing on it. "I'm analysing it."

Olivia grabbed Red's binoculars from his ink tank and looking through them, she looked at the borders of Inkopolis. She saw a group of inklings there.

"Oh no," said Olivia realising what that meant.

"I'm picking up a massive amount of energy emanating from that statue," said Marina.

"Uh…" said Pearl. "That doesn't sound good."

"So yeah…That statue is charging up the energy to destroy the entire world. Once charged up, it will immediately fire. It's so powerful that the ink will spread out fastly with nothing to stop it until the entire world is covered up by that ink."

"HOW DO WE STOP IT?!" screamed Olivia in fear. "MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY ARE THERE! **THEY AREN'T GOING TO MAKE IT OUT ALIVE!** "

This struck Jedi, Oro, Mary and the helicopter pilots in panic.

"THE WORLD IS ABOUT TO END?!"

"I CAN'T LOSE EVERYTHING!"

"WE GOT TO DO SOMETHING!"

"Everyone!" said Marina shushing down the yelling. "Hmm…I do spy a kind of hope…let's see…"

She turned her laptop around to show a 3D model of the statue to everyone.

"The entire statue seems to be absorbing sunlight and converting it into energy," explained Marina. "So if we cover the whole thing in ink, we should be able to stop it from charging."

Pearl screwed her face up in disgust. "You're saying we gotta ink that entire hunk of ROCK? Seriously?"

"We could use the hyper bombs Mary have," said Oro taking out one and throwing it the bottom of the statue. "But these blasted things are still prototypes."

"They are still FUNCTIONAL," said Mary. "They have to be MANUALLY detonated, so Blossom and Red have to get out there and shoot each one."

Blossom and Red nodded.

"What can I do?" asked Pearl.

Marina smiled. "Once the statue isn't charging anymore, you need to hit it with a FULL-POWER BATTLE CRY."

"Wait, what?!" said Pearl, her face turning pale white. "I haven't done that EVER. I don't even KNOW how I can do it anymore."

"I can see what you mean. If we do it now, it won't be enough to destroy that weapon. At least we can prevent it from charging and save the rest of the world from being destroyed. We only have a few minutes until that thing is ready to fire. So use that time to warm up your vocal cords. We need maximum, Pearl!"

Pearl nodded confidently. "Got it. Blowing out my voice is a small price to saving the world!"

Cuttlefish, Jedi and Olivia stared blankly.

"And…what about us?" said Cuttlefish.

"You can…" said Oro. He noticed that none of the three has any weapons and Jedi only has his ink tank with him. "…uh…be the hype people."

"You got it!" said Cuttlefish.

Olivia and Jedi stared at each other dumbfounded. What are 'hype people'?

"World about to blow," said Cuttlefish. "SQUIDBEAK, LET'S GO!"

At this, Mary spoke into her walkie-talkie. "All S pilots. You heard the plan. Drop all the hyper bombs we have. So let's eliminate that statue."

Hearing this, the small helicopters started to fly around the statue and dropped all the hyper bombs they had on the walls of the statue. They stuck instantly like sticky balls.

"C'mon, sis," said Red. "Let's go."

That's when Blossom realized this; she has to get onto the statue and detonate the bombs. Thoughts came in her mind; what if she doesn't detonate the bombs in time? And what if she doesn't survive after detonating all the bombs? She might fall in the water and since inklings and Octarians couldn't swim in water, she might drown.

She felt fear, but then, it was replaced by sadness. Sacrificing herself for the safety of the world meant…not seeing the people who helped her so far again.

She turned to Cuttlefish. "Captain Cuttlefish."

She slowly removed her necklace – the mem cake Iso Padre gave her a few hours ago – and gave it to Cuttlefish.

Realizing what that means, Cuttlefish said, "You don't have to give me a goodbye gift."

He hugged Blossom. Blossom felt tears in her eyes.

"Thanks…for looking out for us," whispered Blossom as they let go.

Jedi smiled. "It's such a brave thing you're doing, girl. It's rare for an Octoling to sacrifice their lives to save ALL the people. I just want you to know that if you're going risk your life for the world's sake, I promise I will tell the inkling society of your bravery and will try to explain to the Octarians as well."

Blossom smiled in gratitude.

"Good luck out there," said Olivia. "God will support you!"

Blossom didn't know what that meant, but she felt like it's some kind of luck.

"Oi!" snapped Red. "Hurry up and get moving!"

Blossom turned around, seeing his brother waiting. He was going to super jump soon.

"OK, brother," said Blossom smiling. She remembered the many dangerous, emotional, bad and wonderful times they had together. The only happy memory was that she was with her close friend, her brother. At least she could die knowing that Red was on her side.

"Let's go," said Blossom.

* * *

 **AN: Boom! Another chapter done! We are getting closer to the end of the story!**

 **The idea of how Red doesn't like his eyes comes from the Sonic Forces fanfiction stories; they show that Infinite sometimes dislike his heterochromia. Also in real life, many people could get uncomfortable with people talking to them about their heterochromia. I thought that if I gave Red mismatched eyes, it would make him different from others and seemingly the only one with a deformity thus struggling with his self-esteem.**

 **The lyrics that appeared in this chapter is my version of 'Nasty Majesty' from the game. Those lyrics aren't taken from other sources, but if anyone find this wrong, please tell me and I will get rid of them.**

 **If you like this story: follow or favorite this story for updates of the story. Make sure to review this chapter on what you thought of this story. I'm OK of hearing improvements from you (please no flames).**

 **We will see if Blossom and Red save Inkopolis from certain doom and we will also come back to Cadet to see...the Final Performance.**

 **Until next time, stay fresh.**


	10. The Final Performance

**AN: Hey there! Because I've already done this chapter, I've decided to release it already. Hope you like it!**

* * *

 **Chapter 10 – The Final Performance**

Blossom and Red super jumped to the statue's ground.

"You'll have to detonate all these hyper bombs in under three minutes!" said Marina from the copter. "We will be dropping zip lines for you to get around the statue."

"Let's go!" said Blossom and Red in unison.

They started to burst the first few hyper bombs on the chest.

"Split up!" said Red. "We will meet each other on the ziplines on the top!"

Blossom inked her way to the neck of the statue and burst the hyper bombs there. For some reason, she heard a beat box beating. And then, there was a keyboard playing.

"What is that?" she said.

"Let's play some music to lift your spirits, eh?" yelled Pearl.

"Well this is a nice tune," thought Blossom.

As Marina and Pearl played their song – Ebb and Flow – Blossom and Red quickly detonated all the hyper bombs, they could burst at the bottom.

"Guys!" said Oro. "There are still some hyper bombs on the head. Use the zip line to get around. There is only 1 minute to that thing is ready to fire!"

Blossom used the closest zip line to get around the head of the statue. She was going well until she missed a hyper bomb. She quickly turned around and jumped, shot the hyper bomb, but caused her to fall.

Just before she thought she was doomed, she felt Red grabbing her hand before pulling her back up and continued riding the zip line. Somehow, they heard the song as it played its bridge-chorus before it began its final chorus.

"I'm so ready. You don't have to stay.

Dance just a little. C'mon. C'mon.

I'll be with you here beside you.

Call by the water. Dance a little, baby.

I'm so ready. You are so steady.

Dance just a little. C'mon. C'mon.

I'll be with you. Meet your future.

Don't you know you're awesome? Dance with me baby."

Blossom and Red looked at each other as they heard the lyrics. They understand what it meant. They had each other and they would be with each other no matter what. They might not be perfect, but they were perfect in the way that they learnt from their mistakes and looked out for others. They had their friends cheering and supporting them.

"Nothing can bring us down," they thought.

They continued to ride the zip line and shot all the hyper bombs they could do.

"There are two hyper bombs left!" said Marina. "Only 25 seconds left!"

"Gotcha!" said Red shooting the first hyper bomb.

Blossom looked for the last hyper bomb, then realized something; it's too far ahead and the zip line couldn't reach it.

"We can't get towards the hyper bomb!" said Blossom.

"Don't worry," said Red, his hair sparkling. "Hold on!"

He released his special; the Inkjet. He used it to fly above. Blossom quickly got onto the jet pack and tried to keep her balance while they went towards the last hyper bomb.

10 seconds to go…

"Go faster!" said Blossom.

8 seconds to go…

"I am!" said Red. "I'm going as fast as I can!"

5 seconds to go…

Feeling anxious, Blossom did the most dangerous thing she would do in her life; she jumped.

4…

She aimed her Octo Shot at the hyper bomb.

3…

She pressed the trigger.

2…

The hyper bomb exploded.

Blossom had just detonated the last hyper bomb. The entire statue is covered in ink. The world could finally breathe easily. The person who was then in danger was Blossom - who was falling.

"Sister!" said Red as he steered his Inkjet to Blossom.

Unfortunately, he was doomed. His Inkjet was over and he was falling along with Blossom. They were going to fall into the ocean - when one of the small helicopters came over to them.

When everything went into slow motion, Blossom missed being chopped by the helicopter's propeller. Red's hair was chopped off; about 0.01 millimeter. They both landed on its beat box and quickly super jumped back to the larger helicopter.

"Good job, guys!" said Marina. "The statue has stopped charging!"

She looked at her laptop and then looked worried.

"What's wrong?" said Oro.

"Energy readings don't indicate a full charge, but it looks like it's going to fire anywhere!" said Marina. "Just enough to destroy Inkopolis!"

"WHAT?!" said Blossom and Olivia in unison.

That's when TARTAR spoke.

" _Number 10,008 and 10,009…No test subject has worked so hard to spoil my plans,_ " it said as the weapon aimed at the helicopter group – with the large helicopter in the middle. " _But now you will blend into…the perfect world the professor envisioned! Farewell, 10,008 and 10,009. Farewell to you and that worthless cesspool of a city!_ "

The weapon's nozzle started glowing green turquoise. IT'S GOING TO FIRE AT THEM!

" _WE GOT TO GO!_ " screamed one of the pilots. " _IT'S GOING TO SHOOT AT US!_ "

Blossom felt tears coming from her eyes. She couldn't save Inkopolis. She couldn't save herself. At least she saved the rest of the world from TARTAR's plan.

But she forgot one thing.

Pearl jumped down and landed on the platform in between Blossom and Red.

"Great work you dudes," she said patting both of them on the back. "I got it from here."

"Knock TARTAR dead," said Red smiling.

"VOCAL CHORDS READY!" said Pearl as her hair sparkles. "AYO, STATUE!"

That's when she released her special; a LARGE PINK SPEAKER-LIKE WEAPON WITH A CROWN ON IT.

"Killer Wail!" said Olivia recognizing the weapon.

They all heard a hissing sound. That's when the statue weapon fired a long laser of green turquoise ink.

"FIRE!" said Cuttlefish.

"BooYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" screamed Pearl into the Killer Wail.

This caused a blazing laser of red-pink ink to come out of the Killer Wail. The lasers collided into each other and started to push each other, trying to win. When it seemed that the statue weapon was going to win, Pearl let out another scream – louder than the last one – and the pink laser hit the statue.

BOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!

As soon as it hit the statue, many things flew out from the statue's eyes. Pearl's scream died down and she hid her Killer Wail.

"AND THAT'S HOW YOU DO IT, BOI!" she said.

"The weapon is down!" said Marina. "All energy readings indicates zero charges!"

"And so is TARTAR," said Blossom. "Look."

They saw from the eye of the statue, TARTAR was upside down in a bad way.

" _GRRK…!_ " it sputtered. " _G-g-gaahhhhhh! Professor…our reunion beckons…KRRRSSSSHHHH!_ "

The statue started to crack and broke. Half of the statue started to crumble and fell into the ocean with a big splash leaving a wider entrance to the facility.

TARTAR was no more. The statue's weapon was destroyed. The world is saved.

Oro and Mary were yelling in victory. Marina came down on the platform and started hugging Pearl. The two fell with Pearl screaming angrily at Marina to get off. Cuttlefish and Olivia were dancing. Jedi was watching in amaze, tears in his eyes.5

Blossom and Red looked on. For once, they felt…pride. They did it. They defeated TARTAR. They escaped and made it to the surface. They did…the IMPOSSIBLE. Despite all the nerve-wracking memories, they fought through the emotions and finally made it this far.

They remembered what Olivia said; "It doesn't matter what people say or what the past say. Not everybody looks perfect!"

What she said meant was a lot to Blossom and Red. It didn't matters what people say about them. Nobody's perfect. As a team, they could achieve the same achievement. Past is passed. The present was necessary - they got to choose their fate to a brighter future. Nobody would tear them down.

Looking at them, Cuttlefish took out the mem cake Blossom gave them and threw it to them. Blossom tried to catch it but missed. Luckily, Red caught it before it fell into the ocean. Tenderly, he placed the necklace over Blossom's neck.

Blossom looked at Red.

Red looked at Blossom.

They smiled. They chuckled happily and hugged each other.

A weak girl and an unusual boy. They entirely made a perfect team. Together, they were strong.

* * *

 **Cephalon HQ, 19/06, 9:00 am**

When Cadet woke up, it was bright. As he opened his eyes, he saw the sky above the horizon.

Out of what happened yesterday, he had nearly forgotten the incident, but he remembered one thing; he had to find Marie and saved the Great Zapfish.

He reached over to his charger…or at LEAST he thought was his charger.

When he looked at the weapon, he was shocked. His charger was gone. In its place was a Hero Shot 2.0

"What?!" he said.

Where did his charger go and why was it replaced with a Hero Shot 2.0?

Reluctantly, he picked it up and started to look for Marie.

"Marie?" he called loudly. "Marie?!"

He couldn't find her. Then he noticed that the boss kettle was opened. Marie must have completed all the tests.

"I should call them," Cadet thought before turning on his headphones.

"Marie," he said. "Where are you now? Marie? Marie?"

It was silent when he called again.

"Sheldon? Are you still there? Sheldon? Sheldon?!"

There was no response from either Marie or Sheldon. Cadet felt guilt in his stomach.

Did they…abandon him? Did they choose to leave him alone?

Cadet felt tears coming from his eyes. This was all his fault. He got into this mess and now here he was with no one to help. He threw his Hero Shot 2.0 to the ground in frustration.

 _"What a coward."_

 _"Did you see what happened to that sniper?"_

 _"Yeah! He fell off because he was oblivious to that squid jumping to him!"_

 _"What a coward!"_

 _"If you are so brave, why are you trying to run away? I bet it's because you're trying to get to your mummy."_

 _"I wonder why you choose to fight…a coward who chooses to fight who is weak and doesn't know how to fight."_

As those words came through his mind, he sighed sadly.

"Why do I even bother?" he thought. "Here am I; all alone. Trying to save the Great Zapfish. Trying to save Inkopolis. But what am I going to do? I'll mess up again."

That's when he heard something…purring. He felt something resting on his shoulder. He looked over and saw a mini Zapfish smiling.

"Get off," Cadet said gruffly.

And that's when he saw a large group of mini Zapfishes flew towards him; the ones that Cadet saved. They playfully nudged Cadet all over his body, but he didn't fall. He just stood sadly.

One of the mini Zapfishes picked up Cadet's Hero Shot and held it in front of him.

"No," he said. "I'm not going to use it."

The zapfish nudged the Hero Shot onto Cadet's arm.

"Just please stop!" he said. "I'm no good in shooters and I can't save the Great Zapfish. What if I do? The Octarians would have won already and it would be my fault. The Inklings are going to die already. I…can't…do this…"

Having enough of his moping, one of the mini Zapfish zapped Cadet causing electricity to flow through him. Once he was stopped being shocked, the zapfish then moved onto Cadet's chest. It had its fins out, opened.

It was hugging him.

 _"I won't let you go."_

He remembered what Marie said to him throughout all the missions he went through.

 _"Great work, Agent 4."_

 _"I'm pretty impressed of_ you."

 _"Cadet, I want to thank you again for all the help you did so far."_

And all of a sudden, Oro's voice came to him.

 _"If you're feeling low, you could come to me for help. I'm available when you need the time to."_

Cadet was silent. Out of all the tough years, he had to go through, he was laughed at and barely had any friends. But he never experienced this. He never experienced…being loved.

Not that type of love; the zapfishes were grateful of Cadet saving them. They were stuck in the cages for so long and here's Cadet who was there to free them. Now they were here to return the favor as a thank you gift.

What Oro said to Cadet earlier was right. He was eager to be a friend of the Skull Sniper. The Zapfishes was treating him as if Cadet's a father. So maybe there would be people who like him. Despite his cowardice, the mini Zapfishes looked up to Cadet and not thinking bad of him.

Cadet felt warmth in his heart. There's one thing clear now; he couldn't give up. He grabbed the Hero Shot 2.0 and went towards the boss kettle. He looked at the kettle. He felt scared. He looked behind to see one of the zapfishes coming onto his ink tank.

"What are you doing?" said Cadet.

The zapfish purred in response. The Skull Sniper wasn't able to figure out what it was trying to say, but then, he thought the zapfish was tagging along with him to keep him brave.

Cadet moved his front tentacle bang to the side, adjusted his ponytail, turned into squid form and hopped into the kettle…

…unaware of the danger that awaited him.

* * *

 **Skies of Inkopolis, S Helicopter Group**

"Good gosh you weren't killed in that stupid blender," said Jedi after Blossom told him the whole story while the helicopters headed back to the aircraft grounds of Inkopolis.

"Oh," said Blossom. "I forgot to say thank you, so…thank you for saving me."

Jedi smiled. Suddenly, he felt another episode of pain to his head. He held onto it and groaned.

"Jedi!" said Blossom. "Are you OK?"

Jedi looked up. Something looked a bit wrong with his eyes. They were bright turquoise before turning back to blood red.

"I'm…" said Jedi as the pain went away. "I'm OK."

"I don't think you're OK," said Blossom worried. "You must be still a bit sanitized by that ink."

"…I will just make an appointment with my doctor today. Maybe they could cure me-"

He was cut off when Pearl was rapping too loudly – still too excited after her loud battle cry.

"CAN'T TOUCH ME!" she screamed through her mic. "CAN'T TOUCH ME!"

Jedi felt another episode of pain, held onto his head and growled. But it wasn't from the sanitized ink. It was from the loudness of Pearl's shouting - as IF his head wasn't hurting enough!

Curling his fists up, Jedi stood up, marched towards Pearl and snatched her microphone out from her hand. He then threw it off the platform. They watched as it flew in the air and fell into the streets of Inkopolis…right into a trash can.

"Aw…" said Pearl.

"But it was about to get better!" complained Oro.

"Not when MY HEAD is hurting!" exclaimed Jedi. "Give me a break. I need a rest."

"Blossom," said Marina looking at Blossom. "Since we hadn't seen each other, how were you in the army? What rank did you reach?"

Blossom tried to think, but she couldn't remember. Then it hit her; her ID Card is in her ink tank.

HER ID CARD! Why didn't she think about that? She could've taken it out when she lost her memories in the first place. It was so obvious the WHOLE TIME. Maybe she forgot that she brought along her wallet.

Taking out her wallet from her ink tank, she got out her ID Card.

"Well," she said recalling some memories while reading the card. "I have reached the A Rank even though I practiced so badly and Red reached the A+ Rank!"

"Good!" said Marina. "Now who said that you're weak?"

Blossom smiled. She looked to see Red. She thought that he would join in, but he was just staring at the background.

"Brother?" she said. "Is anything wrong?"

"Oh…um…" Red stuttered. "Sorry. I was lost in thought. I couldn't believe in all our lives…WE SAVED THE WORLD. That was one thing almost nobody can do."

"Except for heroes like us!" said Cuttlefish.

"Yeah!" said Pearl. "I can't wait to tell this to the entire world. You guys are going to be famous like us. The people will love you; the first two octolings who saved the world!"

Red turned around. He looked worried. "Do you THINK SO? Really?"

"What makes you say that?" said Olivia raising an eyebrow.

"…I…Remember what TARTAR said; 'You wage war over MINOR genetic deviations and arguments. You OBSESSED over trivial fashion choices. You think yourselves as SUPERIOR and see others as INFERIOR.' I'm not saying that I'm on his side, but how do we know that the Inkling society will…accept us?"

Olivia laughed. "C'mon, Red. I accept you. We've talked about this, right?"

"Yeah…but…"

"Silence," said Marina. "I can see your point. The Inklings in Inkopolis are not the nicest people you'll meet. Sure, they argue over little arguments and use turf war to see who wins, always addicted to fashion and count themselves as the greatest…"

"Well thanks for that information," said Red gloomily shown his back.

"But that doesn't mean we Inklings don't care for each other," said Jedi finishing off Marina's sentence. "Do we?"

Red turned around, surprised. "Um…"

"Listen," said Jedi. "People around the world are a mess! They always tried to succeed, but they can make mistakes. There are probably some people like you so don't be worried. You just need someone to have their wings over you. There's one thing we can't deny; all Inklings care for their friends all the time."

Red stared at Jedi for a while. He then kicked the ground. "And how do you know about that? I bet you hadn't been bullied before OR have crazy eyes like me."

Jedi looked in disbelief. "ExCUSE me? Don't you think that I have crazy eyes? Do you even notice I am not wearing any eye color contacts?"

"No," said Red dumbly. "I thought you were wearing fake contacts."

"The truth is; my eyes are NATURALLY red. It's pretty rare for an Inkling OR an Octoling to have red eyes. Sure, some of them have red eyes, but they are just wearing contacts. I have red eyes ever since I was born. I know how you're feeling about your different eyes; I was scared of showing my eyes to people. Some people were a bit scared of me and sometimes gave me dirty looks. I rarely went out in public, but I've stayed together with my friends and I felt more comfortable. It doesn't matter what other squids think. I think you look fine. So how many people have crazy eyes here now?"

Red was silent for a while. "Sorry about being negative…it's just that…I thought that what TARTAR said was true…"

"That's OK," said Olivia. "I guess that TARTAR sees the negatives of species without seeing the positives of them which is why he is so determined to destroy the world. I guess he thinks HE'S perfect and that the world should be perfect like him, but not everybody is right. It would always be like that, and nothing can resolve that."

Red nodded.

"Don't worry, dude," said Pearl patted Red on the back. "We've got everything under control now. How do we celebrate this?"

"Let's go back to my hut and I'll cook up some crabby cakes!"

Mary laughed flatly. "That's IF you can get the stove working without electricity."

"Why's that?"

"Haven't you heard?" said Oro. "The Great Zapfish had been missing."

"Wait, WHAT?!" said Olivia and Jedi in unison.

"Yeah," said Oro. "It's nearly a week since we last seen it. Even worse, Callie went missing as well and nobody heard a word from Marie ever since."

"Callie?!" said Cuttlefish getting worried. "Marie?!"

"They are your grand-daughters," said Marina. "Right?"

Cuttlefish gasped. "It must be DJ Octavio and his army! I should have known! He must have stolen the Great Zapfish and the Squid Sisters!"

"Probably," said Oro. "Also…another inkling went missing…"

"Who?" said Jedi.

"The Skull Sniper! One of the best snipers in Inkopolis!"

"Skull Sniper?" said Olivia confused.

"What?!" said Jedi shocked. "That young Mr Classy? That guy who wore black and wore a Skull Bandanna? Did he get captured by the Octarians as well?"

"I'm not so sure," said Oro gutted. "The last time I talked to him, he seemed…upset because of…I won't explain the whole story, but he thought that…he were a failure. I guess that he…must have run away…"

Blossom and Red weren't listening to them, because when Oro said that the Great Zapfish went missing, they were lost in thoughts; confused with what was happening.

And then, it hit them; they remembered. They remembered a year ago, they passed by the Octarian Army HQ and spotted a few Octarian scientists making a pair of hypnoshades. Could it be…?

"Guys…" said Blossom.

"What?" said Olivia.

"I think Red and I might know what happened to the Great Zapfish AND the Squid Sisters."

* * *

 **Octoking Stadium**

The first thing Cadet saw was himself on a small platform on the lime green spawn point. There was no light around. He couldn't see anything. He looked down. Below the platform – 1000 kilometers down – was a pool of dark fuchsia ink. He looked at his spawn point.

"Oh no," he thought. "The spawn point doesn't have enough power to revive me!"

That didn't deter him. He looked up.

"Where are the enemies?" said Cadet. "Lights?!"

Suddenly, lights appeared on a larger platform. In the middle was some kind of arena surrounded by dark fuchsia ink. There was a mysterious person there. Then more lights and spotlights filled the area showing massive grandstands with tons of Octarians and Octolings.

"What's going on?" thought Cadet before saying, "Cameras?"

At this, giant screens appeared from the grandstands and behind them. It showed the image of the mysterious figure on the arena.

Cadet sighed. He heard the zapfish on his ink tank purred.

"Action," he said as he super jumped to the large platform. He shot ink at a small area of the platform and dived in it. When he got out of the ink, he looked at the person. Somehow, that person seemed so…familiar. The long tentacle hair was…black and dark fuchsia.

"Wait…" thought Cadet. "Is that…CALLIE?!"

Callie turned around revealing to wear black rock 'n' roll clothes. She was also wearing black futuristic sunglasses that have glowing arrows on them.

"I told you to leave," Callie said coldly.

"Callie?" said Cadet. "W…why are you doing this?"

Callie made a pose. "You leave me with no choice. PREPARE TO BE ROCKED!"

She pointed her hands in the air and pointed them to the sky. "HEY, DJ!"

All of a sudden, the ground began to shake. The arena Callie was standing on revealed to be a more massive flying machine as it came out of the ink below. Below Callie's stage inside the device was a large red-purple octopus wearing a black and gold samurai hat, shutter shades and had a set of turntables in front of it. The giant machine revealed to be sphere-shaped and in black and gold. There were two giant golden fists on two sides of the device.

Cadet heard a noise and looked at the bottom of the machine. He and the mini Zapfish gasped. The Great Zapfish was trying to escape the device but sucked it. The engine powered up, letting out a loud deep-tone sound. The crowd cheered wildly.

Cadet stared at the machine dumbly. Without his charger, he didn't dare to take it down.

"OCTAVIO IN DA HOUSE!" said Octavio in the machine. "GYA HA HA! I remixed Callie's brain!"

"What did you do to her?" said Cadet.

"Well, two years ago – after my humiliating defeat – the Octarian Army was focusing on making hypnoshades to get one of the inklings on the surface to save the zapfish and found where I was imprisoned. They decided to use Callie. They gave the hypnoshades to her as a 'gift', and she fell into it. I controlled her to help me continue my work from where I finished."

"So that's why Callie was missing!" said Cadet to himself. "But why do you have to steal her?"

Octavio growled. "You and your group of stupid agents stole my chance in rising upon the Inklings two years ago. And that old Cuttlefish took EVERYTHING from me. It was about time I took something from HIS. So now with the Octoking Machine ready, I would use it to advance to the surface so that I could wipe out EVERY Inkling on Earth and make space for the last and greatest species; Octarians. But first, a little and LAST goodbye performance…for YOU."

"First song of tonight," announced the brainwashed Callie. "Bomb Rush Blush!"

"Time to drop the beat-down!" said Octavio holding two wasabi sticks and used them to scratch his turntables.

"Oh no," said Cadet realizing what THAT meant.

The music started playing making the crowd cheer louder.

"Geez," thought Cadet. "They really like Octavio's music."

Suddenly, one of the golden fists flew out from the machine and started flying towards Cadet.

"Holy carp!" screamed Cadet.

The Skull Sniper dodged out of the way, missed being punched by the fist. He watched as the fist drew back into the machine.

He looked up and saw Callie. The latter was singing while Octavio was playing the music. They remixed the Bomb Rush Blush.

"I would've preferred the original song," Cadet muttered.

Another fist was going to fly. Cadet shuddered. He wished he has his charger with him. He would be able to shoot Octavio and shoot Callie's hypnoshades of her head, but the disadvantage of the Hero Shot was that it didn't have the extended range.

The fist flew at Cadet. In self-defense, Cadet shot lime ink at it. He noticed that every time it was shot, the fist was slowing down. That's it!

He used his ink to cover the fist. It caused the fist to fly back to the machine…punching Octavio in the face.

"Argh!" he screamed.

The machine tilted from left to right. The lights started to flicker red and orange.

"Urgh…" said Callie as she tried to keep balance.

"Callie!" said Cadet. "Try to remember! I and your cousin, Marie have been looking for you!"

"DJ!" said Callie still under control of the hypnoshades. "Drop that spicy beat! LET'S GO!"

"Ha ha," said Octavio as the machine started to function again. "Coming with that hotness."

"Huh," thought Cadet. "I guess all I could do is keep shooting those fists until they can knock that machine out."

The fist flew towards the Skull Sniper again, but he quickly dodged. Callie started to throw Splat Bombs at Cadet.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"Whoa!" said Cadet as he quickly dodged the bombs. "How was she able to throw THOSE?! She doesn't have a weapon!"

The machine flew a bit upwards. It started to go in the direction Cadet was, letting out a shower of dark fuchsia ink. Again, Cadet was able to run out of the way.

The machine let out one of its fists. This time, it was spinning. Cadet tried to shoot it, but the spinning fist is still heading towards him! Before Cadet could notice that, the fist hit him.

BOOM!

Cadet flew in the air as dark fuchsia ink exploded around him. He felt his Hero Shot flying out of his hand. As he fell on his back, he looked up to see the machine coming towards him. He looked behind to see his Hero Shot far away from him; near the edge of the platform.

He looked back up at the machine and started to try to get back. He felt…scared. The whole world was spinning around him. He is in pain; battered and covered in dark fuchsia ink. Suddenly, a batch of voices came into his head.

 _"What a coward."_

 _"Did you see what happened to that sniper?"_

 _"Yeah! He fell off because he was oblivious to that squid jumping to him!"_

 _"What a coward!"_

 _"If you are so brave, why are you trying to run away? I bet it's because you're trying to get to your mummy."_

 _"I wonder why you choose to fight…a coward who chooses to fight, who is weak and doesn't know how to fight."_

Cadet bit his lip. He was done being called a coward. He got up and curled up his fists.

"Come down here you lazy king and fight like a man!" said Cadet to Octavio despite being bruised.

Octavio was taken back. "NOBODY insults the Octarian king!"

"I just did," said Cadet as he super jumped onto Callie's stage.

As soon as Cadet stomped onto Callie's stage, Callie smiled wickedly.

"Well well," she said making a pose. "I see how this is going to go."

"Then go ahead and try!" said Cadet.

Starting a dance-fight, Callie kicked her leg up. Cadet quickly jerked back to avoid the leg flying to him. Trying to remember the moves of the song's dance choreography, Cadet swung his arms under and banged them above his head before swinging his arms again and tried to punch Callie's hypnoshades.

But Callie took a step back and punched Cadet in the stomach. Cadet growled –trying to ignore the pain – as he did another dance and tried to do the roundhouse. Callie missed being kicked by putting her hands up and jumped.

The two continued to dance-fight. The crowd was going wilder than ever. In fact, they were stomping on the ground in the excitement which would be enough to bring every grandstand to break.

Cadet jumped and tried to swing his arm towards Callie's hypnoshades, but she was too fast. And too agile. She started to do the hype dance and at this, her kicking leg KICKED Cadet's balls.

The mini Zapfish on Cadet's ink tank said, "Ooh!"

Cadet's eyes went wide. Callie then jumped up, grabbed Cadet's collar and stomped his feet with her high heels.

Because high heels exert 12 TIMES the pressure of an elephant's foot, Cadet winced. Callie let go of him and watched as he fell off the stage and back onto the platform on his back.

"Ow…" groaned Cadet.

He looked up and saw the machine coming closer to him. One of the fists was ready to fire.

"Oh no, no, no!" said Cadet as he tried to get away. But he was in pain - couldn't move. He's going to die.

Cadet felt guilt. This is his fault. Inkopolis is doomed. The Octarians were going to destroy the Inklings.

He remembered what Marie said to him.

 _"I wish I didn't hire you."_

Maybe she's right. He's a coward. He didn't have what it took to save his home. Cadet sighed and closed his eyes. He felt tears coming out. He started to see the truth; he's a coward and he would ALWAYS be one. Nobody would love a coward. Nobody. He has tried his best, but yet nobody saw the good in that. Yet, he didn't have what it needed to save Inkopolis.

"There's no use crying about it anymore…" thought Cadet as the fist fired. "What's the point? No one cares about…"

SNIPE! BANG!

Cadet's thought was cut short when the fist was shot from nowhere and punched Octavio again.

"Argh!" screamed Octavio. "What the…"

Cadet wiped his eyes and heard the mini Zapfish gurgling in excitement. It was pointing upwards. Cadet looked up…and gasped.

He saw a large flying truck – driven by Sheldon – with the Squid Sisters background on both sides of the truck's cargo. On the track was a large stage with four sub woofers and flashing spotlights. On the stage was Marie in her Squid Sisters outfit; a black glittery sleeveless dress, lime green leggings, black high heels and a lime green calamari ring hat. She was armed with a Hero Charger…CADET'S HERO CHARGER.

"I'm here!" she said. "Catch!"

She threw the Hero Charger at Cadet. Quickly, Cadet got up and shot a long line of lime ink at Callie.

BAM!

The force of the shot knocked the shades of Callie's head and the shades went flying. It fell off the machine and into the dark fuchsia ink river below.

Bye bye, hypnoshades forever.

"NOOOOO!" screamed Octavio. "The hypnoshades!"

"Ugh…" said Callie as she held onto her head. Her eyes remained closed.

"Marie!" exclaimed Cadet. "Where were you?"

"I had to get back to Sheldon's place to upgrade your Hero Charger," said Marie. "I've removed the limiter, so you could access ALL the specials."

Before Cadet could say anything else, Marie spun around and started singing 'Tide Goes Out'.

"Are you sure, are you sure?

Are you really, really sure that I'm not the one?

Are you sure, are you sure?

Are you really, really sure that we're best apart?

Let you down, let you down.

Did I really, oh let you down?

Please do it now, do it now.

Give me one last chance."

Cadet was a bit confused. Why is she singing her solo song? He then heard Callie groaning.

"Unnhhh…" groaned Callie. "This…sounds familiar…"

That's it! Callie's getting back to her senses. Marie's song is working!

"Time to turn the tables!" yelled Octavio. "Spicy speed mode!"

The machine was going faster than ever. It let out a fast flying fist at Cadet. He quickly dodged out of the way.

"What are you waiting for?" said Sheldon. "Take him down!"

"Yeah, but it wouldn't be enough for a man to take down a large weapon," said Cadet gloomily.

Suddenly, two figures landed in front of him. To his horror, they were octolings.

They were both brown-skinned and their hair was red-pink.

The male octoling is wearing the Hero Headset, 18K Aviators, Black Inky Rider (the shirt is lime green), long pants and Annaki Arachno Boots. He is armed with a Hero Roller 1.0.

The female octoling is wearing Squidfin Hook Cans, Tinted Shades, a Splat Bomb mem cake necklace, Hero Hoodie and Lime Sea Slugs (a lime recolor of the Neon Sea Slugs). She is armed with a Hero Brella.

"Oh #$%," said Cadet **[1]**. As if being attacked by a flying machine is not enough, now he had to fight two octolings.

Suddenly, the machine launched two fists. That's when the two octolings turned around and fired – the female octoling shot the left fist and the male octoling hit the right fist with his roller. The two fists flew back to the machine and punched Octavio again.

"ARGH!" he said, his face in pain and nearly numb. "What in the world? What are you two doing here and do I know you two before?"

"Actually not," said the male octoling. "We are just here to tell you to step down NOW."

"I will not. Don't you see what I'm trying to do? The Octarian society needs to get rid of every inkling in this world so that we could rise above the surface. Kill that agent!"

"We're sorry," said the female octoling. "We are not going to."

Cadet was surprised. Out of all the octolings he met, they were mean and showed no mercy to him, but he never imagined that there would be octolings rebelling against their leader…except for Marina, but this was different. Those two octolings must be supporting Cadet to save his kind!

"I guess I'm lucky," thought Cadet with a smile. "Whatever it is, I'm not going to let Octavio destroy Inkopolis."

Octavio's face turned red in rage. "Fine then! Have at thee!"

He shot the two fists again. They were spinning.

"Get back!" said the female octoling. "We can't make those fists bounce back!"

The male octoling tackled Cadet away from the flying fists. They landed on the ground heavily.

"Are you OK?" asked the male octoling as he got up and helped Cadet.

"I'm good," said Cadet.

"I could explain…"

"You don't need to. I knew what you were doing. Now let's go!"

They resumed fighting Octavio. The flying machine was throwing bombs and gushers, so they have to dodge. At the same time, Octavio tried to subdue Marie's singing, but her song overpowered his music. The crowd continued to cheer.

"Wake up, Callie!" called Sheldon as he drove the truck around the platform.

"Ughh," groaned Callie.

Finally, Octavio let one of the machine's fist flew. The male octoling did an impressive flip jump and knocked the fist with his roller causing the fist to fly back and hit Octavio.

As the machine faltered again, Callie groaned.

"My…my head…" groaned Callie. "Where…"

"That's it!" said Marie. "She's coming back to her senses!"

There's only one way to save Callie. Marie whipped out a lime and silver radio.

"Callie!" said Marie. "Remember!"

She pressed play on the radio. Beat boxing could be heard from it.

"That heavenly melody!" said Marie as she made a calling pose.

"The one and only…" said Callie as she made the same pose.

And then, her eyes opened.

"I…" said Callie. "I remember…"

She could see Marie on the truck, her hand out forward.

"YEAH!" said Callie as she hopped out of Octavio's machine and towards Marie's truck. In slow motion, magenta ink went around her and her costume (for some reason) turned back to her Squid Sister outfit; a black glittery sleeveless dress, pink leggings, black high heels and a magenta Ikayaki hat.

She landed on the truck and looked at Marie. They knew what to do.

"You ready for this?

Get on the floor and dance with me.

You need to hear our song.

Rock to the beat.

You'll feel the synchronizing

When you move and I move

And we feel the melody

You better dance."

Cadet recognized the song; it's the Calamari Inkantation! And by the looks on the octolings' faces, they knew the song as well. The crowd cheered wilder than ever before.

"THE SQUID SISTERS ARE BACK!" said Sheldon happily.

As the Callie and Marie danced in sync, the background music was blasting with electronic-rock, dance music. Octavio growled.

"Splat you, Squid Sisters!" said Octavio. "Splat you two and that meddling agent AND those two arrogant octolings."

"Oh," said the male octoling in a threatening manner. "You want to come out and fight about it?"

Octavio just flew his machine high in the air. So high, that it was at least 50 meters high. Suddenly, a launchpad appeared in the center of the platform.

"Why didn't that showed up in the FIRST PLACE?" said Cadet.

"Let's go!" said the female octoling.

They got onto the launchpad and launched all the way up. But, they flew upwards – above Octavio – before falling.

"Oh no!" said Cadet.

"Don't worry!" said the female octoling. She threw out pink balls and they turned into ink rails; circling Octavio's machine.

Cadet and the two octolings landed onto the rails and ground on them. Octavio launched one of the fists at them. Cadet quickly sniped it – even before it could LEAVE the machine and hit into Octavio.

"WHOA!" said the female octoling surprised by Cadet's sniping.

"Watch out!" called Sheldon as a flying spinning fist came towards them.

Cadet quickly jumped as the fist nearly hit him. They continued to bounce the machine's fists itself at the device.

Octavio tried to activate his fists, but something wasn't right. They didn't fly out. THEY ARE STUCK!

"What?!" said Octavio. "No, no, NO! The fists are not working."

Cadet felt his hair sparkled. He knew what this meant. He moved his front tentacle bang to the side and let out a special; THE STING RAY.

BAMMMMM!

He let out a continuous laser beam and it hit the machine. The machine was shaking and bits of it was falling out. When the laser was down, the machine did a back-flip. It was sputtering electricity and black smoke out of its shell. It ran out of power and fell to the center of the platform with a loud sickening crunch.

"We still need to destroy that thing to free the Great Zapfish!" said the female octoling.

"You guys go," said Cadet as his hair sparkles again. "I'll take it from here."

The two octolings didn't complain and jumped off the rails. They landed on the top part of the truck where the black poles were. Cadet got to the inner track and was about to jump. He saw from a long way down was Octavio; trying to get up from his machine. It was a long way down. Cadet tried to focus, but he felt dizzy. He felt…scared.

Taking a deep breath, he heard voices in his head.

"Great work, Agent 4."

"I'm pretty impressed of you."

"Cadet, I want to thank you again for all the help you did so far."

"If you're feeling low, you could come to me for help. I'm available when you need the time to."

Cadet felt hope in his body. He made it this far and no matter who he was, he could still save Inkopolis. He heard the mini Zapfish on his ink tank purred. He looked at it, and both nodded.

Cadet moved his front tentacle bang to the side, adjusted his ponytail and jumped.

He unleashed his special; the Splashdown – for the first time. He held his fist in the air before flying down and hitting Octavio.

BOOOOOOMMMM!

A massive geyser of lime ink flew out from the machine as Cadet punched Octavio. The two octolings looked from the truck, seeing the damage of the device. When the smoke cleared, Octavio was shown on top of his machine in a bad way.

"Gnh…" said Octavio as he got up. He looked around. The walls around him were cracking. "No, NO, NO! Not again! The machine is going to tear itself apart!"

He looked at his turntables to see Cadet in his squid form, trying to get off.

"YOU!" growled Octavio. "You're not going anywhere!"

The angry Octarian king grabbed Cadet.

"This is the LAST time you inklings take my victory!" yelled Octavio.

That's when Cadet's coward instincts kicked in. He was trying to escape, but Octavio's tentacles were too hard to get out.

"KID!" yelled the female octoling. "YOU GOT TO GET OUT!"

Meanwhile, with the machine behind the truck, Callie and Marie saw the Octarian crowd cheered from the grandstands.

"SQUID SISTERS!" they roared. "SQUID SISTERS!"

Callie and Marie waved at them as if they were in a live performance. Octavio's machine flew backwards, sputtering black smoke, electricity and lime green lights. It suddenly…expanded.

"GET DOWN!" yelled the male octoling as he tackled the female octoling onto the truck's cargo.

KABOOM!

The machine exploded with lime green ink flying everywhere and at the same time, Callie and Marie did their signature pose as the song ended with a loud guitar blast.

The crowd cheered.

"Thank you!" said Callie excitedly. "Thank you!"

She looked at Marie and squealed excitedly.

"MARIEEEEE!" she screamed as she ran to hug Marie.

The two hugged (with Callie's tentacles wrapped around Marie).

"MARIE!" said Callie. "ITSSOGOODTOSEEYOUIDONTKNOWWHATWASHAPPENINGBUTITWASSOAWESOMEAND…"

"Calm down, Callie," said Marie. "It's a bit of a long story, but I will tell you later."

Marie shuffled a bit uncomfortable. "Um, Callie?"

"Yes," said Callie.

"I…I want to say that I'm sorry for not being with you…I'm sorry for winning the Splatfest. We shouldn't have done that contest and go on our solo career."

"That's OK, Marie. I thought we were over that Splatfest already, didn't we?"

"I…I guess. It…it's just that…I miss you…"

"I miss you too," said Callie going in for another hug. "But don't be sad now; we are here together."

Marie smiled. Callie smiled.

"So from now on…" said Marie, her voice cracked with emotions. "Can…can we continue our music career…together?"

"…I thought you would never say that," said Callie, accepting the offer.

The female octoling cleared her throat. Marie looked up.

"Oh," she said in a cold voice. "And about you two octolings…"

"No, no, no!" said the female octoling as she took off her glasses. "I'm…I'm a fan of your music."

Marie was dumbfounded. "What?"

"Yeah…" said the female octoling blushing. "…you played that song before two years ago in Octo Valley…right?"

Callie gave a quirky smiling look. Marie surprised. This wasn't the first time an octoling would come up to them and say that they were big fans of them. The first AND last time was when Marina met them. They remembered how nervous and excited Marina was when meeting them.

"I'm Blossom," said the female octoling as she held her hand.

"Nice to meet you!" said Callie as she shook Blossom's hand rapidly.

Marie looked up at the male octoling. "And you are?"

"I'm Red," said the male octoling. "I'm Blossom's brother."

"What brought you two here?"

"Well, we remembered about Octavio's plans to here when heading to Inkopolis with Captain Cuttlefish, Agent 3, General Jus and Off the Hook. We came here ASAP."

"WHAT?!" said Callie. "GRAMPS? AGENT 3?! GENERAL JUS?! AND OFF THE HOOK?! Where did you find them?"

Blossom rubbed the back of her head. "It's a long story, but we could explain it."

"Um…guys…" said Sheldon. "Where's Cadet?"

Marie gasped. "Where…is he?"

"I think we saw him with Octavio," said Blossom. "…In THAT machine before it exploded."

"Oh no," thought Marie. For the whole time, she forgot about him! She quickly said, "Sheldon, steer the truck to the platform!"

Sheldon did as he was told. He landed the truck onto the platform.

"Who's Cadet?" said Callie as Marie jumped off the truck and onto the platform.

"Cadet?" said Marie. "CADET?! Can you hear me?"

As Sheldon got out, he looked up…and screamed.

PLUMP!

Octavio fell onto Sheldon with a loud thud.

"And there's our king," said Blossom as Sheldon tried to flip the unconscious Octavio off.

Marie looked up to see an unconscious Cadet falling from above. She quickly got to the center of the platform and caught him…just in time.

Cadet opened his eyes. He saw the Great Zapfish flying in the air and flew back to Inkopolis. He was lowered onto the ground and saw Marie in front of him.

"You're OK?" said Marie.

"I'm good," said Cadet, wiping his brow.

Cadet looked at Marie for a while and looked down. He remembered that he shot Marie in the eye out of anger. He didn't really mean it.

"Marie…" said Cadet. "I'm…sorry…"

"It's OK, Cadet," said Marie.

"No…no, it's NOT OK."

"Why would you say something like that?"

"That…that was the first time I hurt somebody."

Marie saw what Cadet meant. He seemed guilty of what he did. Sure he could be cold during Turf Wars, but outside that, he's…afraid of hurting others.

"It's alright," said Marie. "I'm feeling alright now. You know it's not your fault for shooting me. You just can't help it, didn't you?"

"But what does it matter," said Cadet sadly. "It's not like you don't care."

"I didn't say OR thought that I didn't care about you! I'm just trying to help. I'm just a bit on edge like you."

Cadet looked down. He wished he could disappear. Then, he felt Marie's hand on his shoulder.

"Cadet," said Marie. "Look at me."

Cadet focuses his eyes on Marie's. The turquoise eyes stared at the golden eyes.

"After what you told me about how you've been an outsider, I thought about that afterwards. And you were right. Sheldon saw you in Inkopolis Square every day, saw you by yourself. He told me about it. I know that I said that agents need to be tough, but sometimes, they don't always have to be. They can have fear so that they can be aware of the danger. It's OK to be afraid because…it is a normal feeling. Just to let you know, everyone is scared at times - they just don't want to show it. That doesn't mean you have to copy them. There are more people like you out there. You're not alone."

Marie opened her arms for a hug. Cadet – immediately – hugged Marie, had great tears.

"It's OK," said Marie. "Don't listen to what those inklings say. You are not alone, I'm here for you."

As Cadet let go, he said, "I…I couldn't imagine that a famous pop star…would be my friend."

Marie smiled. "And I never imagine that I would be friends with a fan of mine."

They heard a familiar gurgle and that's when Cadet realized about the mini Zapfish that was clinging onto his ink tank the whole time. Just before he could panic, the mini Zapfish snuggled into Cadet's chest happily.

"Oh," said Marie. "So one of the mini Zapfish decided to come with you."

"Hey there!" said Callie coming to Cadet. "Who are you?"

"My name is Cadet Classy," said Cadet. "I'm also Agent 4 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon."

Callie shook Cadet's hand gleefully.

"Nice to meet you," said Callie. "Thanks for rescuing me."

Cadet nodded. At this time, he would be awestruck, but after working together with Marie, he didn't mind being greeted by the Squid Sisters.

Cadet looked up to see Blossom and Red observing the unconscious Octavio.

"Is he dead?" said Blossom poking Octavio.

"No," said Red. "He's out cold. The least we could do is put him in some prison so he won't make any more trouble."

"Hey," said Cadet shyly as he came up. "So we are you two?"

"Oh," said Blossom hoping that Cadet won't be hostile to them. "I'm Blossom and this is my brother, Red."

Cadet shook Blossom's hand showing no signs of fear.

"My name is Cadet," said Cadet before shaking Red's hand.

"Anyway," said Red. "We should head back. Cuttlefish would be waiting by now."

"Cuttlefish?" said Cadet as Sheldon dragged Octavio and threw him into a large snow globe. "You met him?"

"Yeah…"

"How did you find him? I heard that he was on a trip. Did you bump into him?"

"We will explain it on the way back."

Sheldon carried the giant snow globe – with Octavio in it – and threw it into the truck's cargo.

"Alright," said Sheldon. "Let's go back now. The Great Zapfish might be back in Inkopolis already."

He went into the truck and powered it up. It started flying into the air. Sheldon steered it to the edge of the platform.

"Please," he said. "Hop on!"

The agents started to head to the truck. Cadet closed his eyes. It was good. Through all the tough challenges he faced, he never imagined that he would get this far. He became a hero and he saved Inkopolis. He can't wait to go home…

"Um…" said Marie. "Cadet?"

Cadet opened his eyes, confused. He looked behind to see Marie – with her eyes widen up.

"What?" he said.

"That's…not where the truck is…" said Marie.

Cadet looked on the right to see the truck's front with Sheldon in the driver's seat. His eyes widened up…enough to pop through his goggles.

The Skull Sniper felt a sudden jerk of fear. He looked down.

He was standing on nothing.

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

Below him – 1000 kilometers downwards – was the river of dark fuchsia ink. He was far ahead of the platform.

And he fell.

CCCCRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

 **\- PLEASE STAND BY AS WE ARE GOING THROUGH SOME TECHNICAL ISSUES -**

* * *

 **AN: And that's how you end a good chapter! Don't worry, Cadet will be fine.**

 **[1] Please excuse the words replaced by various symbols as the letters for that word were caught in traffic and unable to make it here on time for the chapter. :3**

 **The story is not over yet. In the next chapter, the agents are heading back to Inkopolis, however, there will be a surprise that Cadet doesn't know.**

 **The lyrics that appeared in this chapter is my version of 'Ebb and Flow', 'Tide Goes Out' and 'Calamari Inkantation' (appear in the chapter respectively) from the game. Those lyrics aren't taken from other sources, but if anyone find this wrong, please tell me and I will get rid of them.**

 **If you like this story: follow or favorite this story for updates of the story. Make sure to review this chapter on what you thought of this story. I'm OK of hearing improvements from you (please no flames).**

 **Until next time, stay fresh and have a happy new year. Let's make 2019 a better one.**


	11. A Fresh Start

**Chapter 11 – A Fresh Start**

"What?!" said Callie as the truck flew them back to Octo Canyon and after Blossom and Red finished their story. "You've defeated a HUGE STATUE that was going to DESTROY THE WORLD."

"Yeah," said Blossom. "But don't give us credit for that. It was Pearl who took down that statue."

"Oh."

Marie looked at the trembling Cadet. If it weren't for the mini Zapfish, he would have drowned in the pool of dark fuchsia ink. The mini Zapfish was lucky enough to fly and carried him despite being small.

"So…" said Marie cheekily. "What did we learnt?"

"Oh, shut up," growled Cadet as the mini Zapfish played with his hair.

The truck arrived back at Tentakeel Outpost. Sheldon turned off the truck and went to the truck's cargo. He opened it and dragged the snow globe out from it.

Both Cadet and Red pushed the snow globe to Cuttlefish Cabin.

"Octavio is so determined to destroy you Inklings," said Red.

"Why's that?" said Cadet. "The war has been already over a CENTURY ago."

"…I guess that we've been living underground for so long that Octavio wanted us to have a good life by taking over the Inklings."

"I leave without ceremony," said Blossom as she stared at the still-out-cold Octavio in the snow globe. "Don't be too sore; I wanted more. My sincerest apology."

Cadet looked at Blossom. "When did you ever think of that?"

"Just a poem I've made before I ran away."

As Red and Cadet stopped at Cuttlefish Cabin and took a breath, a familiar voice was heard.

"Ah!" said Cuttlefish. "Callie! Marie!"

"Gramps!" Callie and Marie said in unison as they threw their arms around him. "We were so worried!"

"It's OK," said Cuttlefish. "I'm alright now."

Callie looked up and saw Olivia and Jedi (both without their capes).

"Hey there," said Olivia.

"AGENT THREEEEEEEEEEEE!" squeled Callie.

"Oh, hello CalLEEEE!" screamed Olivia as Callie ran to her and hugged her causing both of them to fall.

"OHMYGOSH!" said Callie. "IWASSOWORRIEDABOUTYOUWHEREWEREYOUAREYOUALRIGHTAREYOUHURT…"

As Olivia struggled to break free from Callie's hard hug, Jedi looked at Cadet.

"So you're the new agent," said Cuttlefish as he shook Cadet's hand.

"Yeah," said Cadet. "I've heard a lot about you from Marie."

"Excuse me," said Jedi as he came towards them. "Aren't you…Cadet Classy? The Skull Sniper?"

"Yeah…" said Cadet bashfully.

"I thought you were captured by Octarians. So you became a new agent?"

"Yeah."

Jedi held out his hand and shook Cadet's hand.

"I'm Jedi Justice. It's nice to meet you," said Jedi. "I've heard a lot about you.

"Likewise," said Cadet feeling Jedi's strong grip. "Aren't you supposed to be wearing a Paintball Helmet?"

"Well...it was…"

"Why is this a new agent?" said Pearl as she and Marina went to Cadet.

If Cadet's eyes could pop out of his eye-holes, they would. First of all, he met the Squid Sisters and NOW he met the famous Off the Hook band?! He couldn't believe his luck.

"Oh…" said Cadet nervously. "H…hi…"

Marie snickered. "This is like the first time you saw me, Cadet."

"Wait," said Marina. "You're Cadet? The Skull Sniper?"

"Yes," said Cadet.

Marina looked a bit worried. "Cadet. Ever since you went missing, a lot of people were wondering where you were."

Cadet was shocked. "What?"

"Yeah, dude," said Pearl. "You freak everyone out. They've been searching for you."

Searching for…Cadet couldn't believe. He must have got Inkopolis worried. No. That couldn't be possible. Nobody in Inkopolis cared for him. Nobody.

"Cadet?" said Blossom. "Are you OK?"

"Marina," said Cadet. "Are you telling the truth or making up an LIE?"

"What?" said Marina. "It is the truth!"

"I don't believe it."

"Why's that?"

Cadet sighed. "Didn't you even know? Do you remember what happened in the last Turf War I entered? Inkopolis doesn't want to found a coward like me. They…they wouldn't care about a nobody…"

"AHEM!" said Oro's voice. "I care about you, dude!"

Cadet's eyes widened up again. Could…that be? He looked up. It was Oro.

"Oro?" said Cadet.

"Dude!" said Oro as he grabbed Cadet's shoulders. "You scared the carp out of my team and me. We have been looking for you ever since! Including your father!"

"What?! How did you…?"

"On the night you disappeared, Hunter decided to go to your house. He found out that your father was worried and that you haven't been home ever since. This got us in a panic, and we called the police to find you!"

Cadet was silent. He remembered what his father wanted him to do, but he forgot that his father could get worried about him. He looked down feeling upset. There was an unpleasant cloud of guilt, sadness, worriedness and regret clouding his head.

"I'm sorry," said Cadet. "…I was away because I was helping Marie to save the Great Zapfish and Callie. But what does it matter? It's not like Inkopolis cares if I'm alive."

Oro looked at Cadet and sighed. "I DO care."

"And how am I supposed to know that?"

"Listen. I know what those people up there did to you. I know how they made fun of you. But you're letting those negative things take control of your steering wheel. You know that you are not a coward, aren't you?"

"I…I guess…"

"And do you remember the time when I told you this: 'If you're feeling low, you could come to me for help. I'm available when you need the time to.' I never break a promise and have you ever heard that I betray people?"

"Not really."

"Well, that's what friends are for!"

Cadet was dumbfounded. "F…friends?"

"Yeah!" said Oro smiling. "I'm your friend, am I?"

"I…I thought you aren't."

"But now I am. You need someone to help you."

Oro put his fist up. Knowing what that meant, Cadet put his fist up and the two did a fist bump.

"S…sorry for causing trouble for Inkopolis…" said Cadet.

"It's OK," said Oro. "We know that you have to go and save us."

That was when Cadet saw Mary – shaking. She must be nervous about seeing him. Cadet recalled the time when he fought Mary in that Turf War. He guessed that Mary saw him as a demon.

"H…h…hi…" said Mary trembling, smiling sheepishly. "You look good."

"Mary?" said Cadet. "What are Oro and you doing here? I know that you two were associated with Off the Hook, but why are you here?"

"We also helped Blossom, Red and Cuttlefish to escape and get to Inkopolis," said Mary. "We came here to guard the entrance of Octo Canyon while Red and Blossom went to help you."

"Well that explains everything," said Cadet.

He looked over at Callie and Olivia which Olivia finally broke free from Callie's hug.

"Oh!" said Callie dragging Olivia towards. "This is the new agent; Cadet Classy! Cadet, meet Olivia Classy; the one and only Agent 3!"

"Hmm…something's fishy with both their last names," muttered Pearl under his breath.

The second Olivia saw Cadet; she was…shocked.

"C…Cadet…?" she said staggered.

Cadet noticed Olivia looks worried. "Yeah, anything wrong?"

Olivia hesitated. She looked at the rest of the guys.

"Excuse us for a while," she said before grabbing Cadet's hand and dragged him to the hut.

"What is it?" said Cadet once nobody wasn't looking at them.

Olivia sighed. "I got to make sure first. What's your father's name?"

"His name is Jeff. Why's that?"

Olivia gasped. Could it be…?

"Y…" stuttered Olivia. "You're name is Cadet Classy. REALLY Cadet?"

"Yes," said Cadet a bit confused. "Why's that?"

"I…*sigh*…I got to say something. The two of us…we are siblings. I'm your older sister."

Cadet was shocked. "W…what?! So…you're saying that we're related?"

Olivia nodded her head.

"Are you telling the truth or just making up a lie?" said Cadet.

Olivia sighed. "Since you're here, I got to say this; when I was three, you were born and I was happy to have a sibling. But, it was also the time our parents got into an argument. They finally agreed on divorce and Dad decided to emigrate to Inkopolis. He wanted to bring you along, but as you were still an infant, our mother refused to. This sparked up another argument which nearly harmed Mum. I could have gone up then to stop them, but I just stood there and watched. In the end, our Dad went and took you to Inkopolis while I stayed back in Squidney with Mum. Mum got rid of all the photos and contacts with our father which was why you never got to know her and I think Dad did the same thing but secretly, I hid one of our family photos so that I could never forget about you."

Cadet raised an eyebrow. "Olivia. If this is the truth, why didn't you come up to me and tell me all about this until now? We are both well-known in Inkopolis, so you should know about me."

"It's just that…" sniffed Olivia, wiping a tear. "After I joined the New Squidbeak Splatoon, I was too busy with my patrolling job. I hadn't had the time to look for you. I had been missing out on a lot of news and Turf War and stuff…I'm sorry for not telling you earlier…"

Olivia didn't look like she was going to break down, but she still had tears in her eyes. Cadet was speechless. He didn't know what to say in front of his long-lost sister, but he knew one thing; he couldn't let her down. He opened up his arms. Immediately, Olivia hugged him.

"I'm so sorry," Olivia said slowly as she cried.

"It's OK," said Cadet. "We're here together now."

Olivia broke away from the hug and smiled.

"Olivia?" said Cadet. "I don't want to be rude, but how am I supposed to know if that's the truth?"

Olivia smiled weakly. "Have you ever notice the difference between our last names and our appearance?"

"I did. I thought it was just a coincidence ever since I've heard of you."

"It's more than a coincidence. Our last names are the same, right? And there's no denying that we don't look that different, do we?"

Cadet looked at his hand, dark brown. He looked at Olivia's eyes. They are turquoise as Cadet's eyes. Olivia mostly looks the same as Cadet, so she must be right. They are twins.

Olivia reached to pull down Cadet's bandanna, but the latter hesitated.

"C'mon," said Olivia. "What's wrong with showing your face?"

Cadet sighed reluctantly and – for the first time in his life – pulled down his bandanna revealing his mouth.

"I…," said Cadet. "It's just that I get uncomfortable with showing my identity nowadays."

"HEY THERE!" said Pearl interrupting their moment. "I guess it's time to tell Inkopolis about your great big adventure!"

"But, young lady," said Cuttlefish. "We are not supposed to tell the Inklings about the New Squidbeak Splatoon. It's a secret group."

"Yeah," said Marie. "But I got to say; I made a promise with Cadet. We agreed that if we are working together, that means that I'm going announce that Cadet saved the Great Zapfish."

"But would that mean telling who the real thieves were?" said Callie. "Olivia pointed the fact of our past two years. If we do, how are we going to make the Octarians look?"

"The Octarians nearly destroyed Inkopolis, TWICE!" argued Jedi. "We could still tell everyone about them, that would teach them a lesson for stealing. It would serve them right."

Cadet looked at Olivia who looks worried. He then looked at Blossom and Red, having the same guilty look. The Octarians were responsible for the zapfish raid, and if they told the truth, all Octarians would be in trouble; including Blossom and Red. The two were bullied for so long and Cadet figured that they don't deserve to be bullied again.

There was one thing to do; he just had to let his life be. Let how every day was. Let how the bad things that happened to him happen. Let his pain continues.

"Marie," said Cadet. "I'm happy for the deal you made with me, but I'm refusing the offer now."

"What?" said Marie. "I thought you want to because you want to be acknowledged by the Inklings."

Cadet sighed. "Not for the price of making Octarians look bad. I say that we keep the whole thing a secret."

"Same here," said Blossom and Red in unison.

"WHAT?!" said Pearl. "C'mon! Cadet here saved the main power of Inkopolis, and Red and Blossom defeated a huge statue that nearly destroyed the world! You can't just keep it a secret."

"We have to," said Olivia. "Sure it will make us look good and spice up our reputation, but if we tell that Octavio was behind the Zapfish raid, we would NEVER find peace between the Inklings and the Octarians. I have been trying to mingle with the Octarians for a while and nothing changed until now."

It was silence for a while. Then, Pearl and Marina smiled.

"OK then," said Pearl giving up the thumbs-up. "Your secret is safe with me."

"And me," said Marina.

"Your secret is locked in my heart," said Oro winking.

"I'll tell my team not to tell anyone about that giant statue," said Mary.

Marie checked her watch. "You better go now. It's already noon, and everyone will be wondering where you are now."

"Cadet," said Marie looking at Cadet. "You may keep your Hero Suit, but NEVER tell anyone where you got it from. I will also allow you to use your nickname 'Agent 4' but don't go around telling people your identity."

"OK," said Cadet. "It's good seeing you, Marie."

"It's good to see you," said Marina. "But I'm not going to let you go without a reward. I made a chatroom for all of us to share. Would you like me to give you all the codes?"

"Sure," said Cadet taking his phone out.

Everyone gave their phones to Marina and she typed the code on their phones. When she finished, she looked at Blossom and Red.

"I believe that you two still have the chatroom we have together," said Marina.

"I'm not sure," said Blossom. "I don't remember and I don't think we brought our phones along."

While Blossom was talking, Red looked through the pockets on Blossom's ink tank. He pulled out her phone.

"I found yours," said Red.

At this, Cadet remembered what his father said to him. He still doesn't have a place to live at yet. Maybe…

"Hey Olivia," said Cadet. "I'm looking for a place to stay. Our father is moving back to Squidney, and I'm staying in Inkopolis, so do you have room for one?"

Olivia was surprised. "Why of course! I have room for three more in my apartment. My friends moved away because we went on with our solo careers. Cadet, Blossom, Red…you could be my roommates!"

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Blossom and Red.

"A…are you sure?" said Red as he took off his Hero Headset.

"Don't worry," said Olivia. "My room in the apartment that I lived in is pretty big and I'm pretty loaded."

"I'm not sure though," said Blossom.

"Then would you rather walk around in Inkopolis aimlessly?"

Blossom and Red thought for a while. They then looked at each other and nodded.

"OK," said Blossom and Red.

"Good!" said Olivia. "Then let's go!"

Cadet smiled and took off his ink tank. He grabbed his Toni Kensa Black Hi-Tops that was left at the cabin. He looked back at Callie, Marie, Pearl, Marina and Cuttlefish.

"Guess we will see you later," said Cadet. "It was nice seeing you all."

"See you later," said Callie and Marie in unison. "Stay fresh!"

"Take care, kids!" said Cuttlefish.

"Don't get cooked, stay off the hook!" said Pearl and Marina.

Cadet heard a gurgling noise. He looked behind to see the mini Zapfish flying towards him.

"See you later, buddy," he said patting it.

He turned around and followed Olivia, Blossom and Red who were talking to Oro, Mary and Jedi.

"You guys ready to go to Inkopolis?" said Jedi.

Blossom and Red nodded.

"Then let's go," said Oro.

Cadet, Olivia, Blossom, Red, Oro, Mary and Jedi turned into their cephalopod forms and dived into the entrance drain – heading to Inkopolis.

"Wait a minute," said Cadet as they slid through the dark tunnel. "Blossom. Red. Did you two empty your ink tanks?"

"Yes," said Red. "Why's that?"

"We aren't allowed to use ink in public places for safety unless in Turf Wars."

"Mine cracked, a leak in it," said Blossom.

* * *

 **Inkopolis Square**

The group of 7 arrived at the small alley of Inkopolis. Cadet wiped his brow. It has been a while since he came into the square. Even though he was gone for a few days, it felt like he was stepping into a new world.

"What is Turf Wars anyway?" said Red.

"I'll explain later," said Cadet as he put his bandanna back over his mouth.

"Really?" said Mary. "You know that you don't have to put on your bandanna every time."

Cadet ignored her, and the group went out into the open. They could hear many people talking about something.

"Did you heard about it?"

"The Great Zapfish is back at Inkopolis Tower!"

"I know, right?"

Cadet felt butterflies in his stomach. He was tempted to tell everyone who saved the Great Zapfish, but he just agreed to keep it a secret. He still wished he could. If he would, everyone won't be mean to him and treat him fairly.

Taking that thought aside, Cadet looked at Blossom and Red. The two looked worried. The two octolings were concerned about coming into the Inkling society. Sure Marina fit in, but would they?

"Just don't focus on them," thought Blossom as they passed by whispering inklings. "Just ignore them…"

"HEY!" said one inkling. "You two octolings!"

Blossom and Red hesitated. But they turned their heads around.

"What is it?" said Blossom.

"Where did you get that nice hairstyle from?" said that inkling.

Blossom and Red were dumbfounded. "Huh?"

"Yeah!" said another inkling coming by. "That hairstyle looks cool!"

"Let me see!" said another.

"Everyone. Gather around those two!"

Blossom and Red soon found themselves surrounded by many inklings marveling at their hairstyles. Blossom and Red felt uncomfortable. They never expected to be liked by the Inkling society. At first, they thought they were going to be bullied again, but the Inklings accepted them. Maybe a BIT too much. Within moments, the large group of inklings surrounded Blossom and Red, trying to see their hairstyles, grabbed them from every side.

"WHOA! WHOA! WHOA!" said Blossom over the loud crowd.

"STOP TOUCHING US!" said Red.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"JUST GIVE US SOME PERSONAL SPACE!"

From outside the mosh pit, Cadet, Olivia, Oro, Mary and Jedi watched the madness.

"WAIT! WAIT!" screamed Red. "DON'T DO THAT!"

From a low angle shot – showing the tower of Inkopolis Square and off-screen from the madness – Red's Black Inky Rider could be seen flying in the air; his black leather jacket and his light lime green shirt.

"NOOOOOOO!"

"Wow," said Mary. "I never knew that Red has a fit body."

Cadet shuddered. He went through some horrible moments, but he never saw something this zany. This was so…so…so WRONG!

He looked at Oro, who had his phone out – recording that embarrassing moment.

"Um…Oro…" said Cadet. "I…"

"No, no, no," said Oro. "It gets BETTER."

* * *

 **Exactly 2 minutes and 17 seconds later outside Inkopolis Square**

"Thanks for shooing those idiots away," said Red holding a broken 18K Aviators due to his glasses thrown in the air and his jacket unzipped and in a crooked way. "Sorry that I broke your glasses."

"Nah," said Olivia shrugging. "It's OK."

"Say, Red," said Cadet. "Where did you and Blossom get those clothes from?"

"Well Olivia gave it to us before we went to save you," said Red. "It's to give us a 'bit of power'. We even needed it to disguise ourselves so that Octavio won't know our real identities."

Cadet looked behind to see Oro watching the recorded video on his phone. Mary and Jedi were watching it in disgust.

"Please delete that video," said Jedi.

"C'mon!" said Oro. "Wait 'till I get this baby posted on the Splatnet. It's going to be famous soon."

"Post that video, and I'll chop those tentacles off your head," growled Red in a threatening voice.

Cadet looked up to see Blossom looking at a tree. She was looking at it as if it's something she hadn't seen before. He decided to approach her.

"You're OK?" asked the Skull Sniper.

"Yeah," said Blossom. "It's just that…this place is new to me. It has more life, color and bliss."

"I guess it's because you have been living underground for so long that you didn't know how it's like to be up here."

"Yeah. There are some things that I am unfamiliar with. Some signs look like they come from another planet."

"That's just the Inkling language. It's our secondary language. I can help you with that."

"I...I still feel like there's more to come. Even though I got it here, I still feel like I'm still in danger."

Cadet was confused. "What makes you think of that?"

"It's just that…" said Blossom. "I still have this feeling of a horrible fate. And there are also some questions unanswered; why were Red and I used as test subjects? Why Red's and Jedi's bodies could glow red? And plus, I still feel like I have forgotten someone who's important to my life. There are still more events to come in life."

Cadet was silent. She's right, but he didn't feel the same way as she did.

"I'm not so sure," said Cadet. "We will just have to wait and see."

Finally, they arrived at Olivia's apartment. It was a medium-tall building with fresh lime green and grey decorations on the sides.

"That looks nice," said Blossom.

"I know," said Olivia proudly. "Even if I have to say it myself."

"Hey guys," said Oro. "I got to go now. I have to get back for a team meeting."

"Yeah," said Mary. "I got some stuff to catch up with."

"I'm still not feeling well, better see my doctor to find out the problem," said Jedi. "I guess we will be leaving you four."

Olivia smiled. "Thank you for helping us so far. We'll see you later next time."

"Yeah," said Blossom and Red. "Thank you."

Cadet just waved timidly. He knew that they had become good friends with him, but he was still unsure about that.

"I'm not so good at goodbyes, but bye for now," said Jedi as he turned around to leave.

"Yeah," said Mary. "Call me when you need me. Take care of yourselves!"

"See you later, boi and stay fresh!" said Oro giving the thumbs-up.

They watched as the trio left to do their stuff.

"They've been a supportive group to us," said Red.

"Do you think Oro and Mary will become agents of the New Squidbeak Splatoon?"

"Possibly," said Olivia. "Perhaps not Oro."

Cadet snickered a bit. He could tell why. At this, he realized that he forgot one thing.

"Olivia," said Cadet. "I need to get my belongings from Dad's house."

"You're right," said Olivia. She then took a set of house key from her pocket and gave it to Blossom. "You two go to my room. It's on Level 3 and the room number is 49. Cadet and I will meet you later."

Blossom and Red both nodded. Olivia looked at Cadet.

"Let's go see Dad, shall we?" said Olivia.

* * *

Cadet was surprised that Olivia already had a car license. Olivia drove him back to Cadet's old home. Mr Classy was thrilled to see both Cadet and Olivia. He asked Olivia for forgiveness, and she accepted the apology. Mr Classy already put aside Cadet's belonging, so it wasn't hard to sort them out. They tearfully said farewell to Mr Classy and drove back to Olivia's apartment.

"Wow!" said Olivia as Cadet carried the last bag of items and his charger up onto Olivia's floor. "Nearly all your clothes are black and turquoise. Also, you only have one weapon."

"Well, I sold all my weapons to buy the E-Liter 4K Scope," said Cadet. "It's the strongest charger ever known."

"You still need some weapons to back you up."

"I don't do anything that's not long range."

Olivia opened the door. "Welcome to your new home!"

Cadet – with his eyes closed – entered the room.

"Hey guys," he said. "We are back…"

His voice dropped when he opened his eyes. He dropped the bag and the charger he was carrying. What he saw was a mess.

A COMPLETE mess.

Olivia's room was messy.

There were dirty clothes on the floor.

Several mini Zapfishes – wearing different headgear – flying around.

The kitchen has many uncleaned dishes.

It looked like as if a hurricane struck the whole room.

"So," said Olivia smiling with her eyes closed. "What do you think?"

"If I have a million dollars," grumbled Cadet. "I would buy myself a house to live in."

"Oh," said Blossom nearby, fiddling with her yellow bracelet. "You two are back."

Cadet saw the yellow bracelet. It read '10,008'.

"What's that?" said Cadet.

"Oh," said Blossom looking at it. "It something I wore during the tests."

"I thought you threw it away," said Olivia.

"My brother and I decided to keep them in case we go back to Deepsea Metro."

"Hey there," said Red who was sitting on the couch with a new pair of 18K Aviators. "Do you need help?"

Cadet was about to say no when he looked at his belongings. There were a lot of them and he would struggle to try to carry all.

"Yes," said Cadet.

"Where you will be sleeping is there," said Olivia pointing to a bedroom with its door opened.

Red and Cadet started to carry Cadet's belonging to the room. However, Red stacked 4 boxes on each other and carried them.

"Wow," said Cadet as they carried the boxes to his new room. "You're pretty strong."

"I was trained in the army," explained Red. "I should be able to handle carrying them."

As they placed Cadet's belongings on the shelves, Red decided to ask a question to Cadet.

"So Cade," he said. "I know that Marie hired you as Agent 4, but what did you do in your normal life?"

Cadet hesitated. He didn't want to tell Red about how he was made fun of. He knew that Red was bullied, but he felt uncomfortable about saying.

"Well," said Cadet. "I was an X-rank sniper. I didn't usually work with teams and only helped other teams if they needed a teammate. I earned the nickname the 'Skull Sniper'."

"X-Rank?!" said Red. "Wow! I guess Inkopolis really like you, huh?"

Cadet sighed. "Not really."

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

Cadet turned his head around. "Nothing. J…just nothing."

Red folded his arms. "Nothing? C'mon. You said that not many people like you. Why's that?"

Cadet hesitated again. "Just…just forget it. It wouldn't matter, and it wouldn't matter for you."

Red raised an eyebrow. "Mate, don't hide your feelings. But if you don't want to talk about it, don't talk. I've been bullied before and I had been trying to escape from it, so here I am. I'm not going to live here seeing other people get bullied as well."

"I was bullied," said Cadet. "But not the way you think it would be."

"Then how?"

"Inkopolis…" said Cadet, tears forming in his eyes. "It's one of those places where they only wanted the strong and stomped out the weak. I…I was a coward and I was a laughing target. I barely had any friends before the whole agent thing. Nobody would want to be friends with a coward. Besides, I don't think I wanted to be friends with anyone."

"Friends with anyone? Why do you prefer being a loner?"

"I…I wouldn't want to talk about it, but one thing I know; teamwork is a LACKING STRENGTH. Working with others only pull you down. You can't trust your friends to help you. What if they are bad people? What if they betray you? What if they don't concentrate?"

"Teamwork is NOT a lacking strength!" said Red firmly. "I worked with my sister, and we've made it to here! We worked together to be free."

"That's…that's just luck. I don't get how teamwork works. For me, it will just cause more mistakes."

"Well, people make mistakes. You can't expect them to be always perfect. Even though you think that you couldn't trust others, you need to learn to trust others so that you could succeed. It doesn't matter what strengths or weaknesses they have."

Cadet sighed and turned his head.

"It's just that," he said. "I've been doing this myself my entire life…I just thought that no one would need me. I didn't want to make the same mistake again."

"Listen. I might not have some potion to make you feel better, but here's one thing…shut that carp up! I've gone through the same thing! I've been trying to fit in, but as you said, they don't want anyone weak. And yet, here you are complaining about it and not realising that I was in the same boat as well?!"

Cadet was silent. Red came up to him.

"You're just scared that people would make fun of you. Olivia would say that. By screwing up, that's why?"

"I just wanted to be like them," said Cadet sadly.

"No one is perfect. Everyone would make mistakes, but they will learn from them. You're just intimidated by those people out there which makes you believe that you're a failure, but in fact, you're not as long as you try. It's not like you're the only person who's a failure. There are many people out there like you, probably suffering worse than you. Making mistakes is OK. You just need a little push from someone…"

"And how am I supposed to know who to trust?" said Cadet gruffly pushing Red gently.

"You just have to trust me. I've helped you defeated Octavio, right? I helped you. Blossom helped you. Olivia helped you. And so did the rest of the guys. If we don't really like you, we won't help you at all, would we? We are on your side, and I promised that I wouldn't let you down. Even though we could make mistakes, we learn from them and move on. Teamwork is not a lacking strength. We work together to accomplish one dream. That's what friends do."

Cadet was surprised. Did he said…?

"You…" said Cadet. "You're saying that we're 'friends'?"

"Yeah!" said Red. "Why's that?"

"It's just that…you know it already. I don't usually have friends."

"Well, you do now! I promise to be there for you, anytime."

Cadet stared at Red. Maybe he's right. He remembered how Blossom and Red helped him to defeat Octavio, so he shouldn't think that teamwork wasn't great. Perhaps it wasn't right to listen to other people's opinions. He finally realized that there were people who cared for him and that they won't turn their backs on him. Like Red said, even though he and other people made mistakes, they learned from them. It's probably time to stop hiding in the shadows and to trust others for help.

Cadet smiled, but his bandanna still hid his smile. "S…sorry for being negative."

"It's OK," said Red. "Please don't do that same mistake as I did. I've always listened to those negatives things and I nearly took a life."

Cadet pulled down his bandanna, deciding to show his smile. At this, he held up his charger and placed it on a nearby table.

"Huh?" said Red noticing the charger. "What's that?"

"This?" said Cadet. "This is the E-Liter 4K Scope; the most powerful charger and it's Level 30."

"Wow!" said Red observing the charger. "I guess that must have got you the nickname, Skull Sniper."

Cadet rubbed the back of his head. "Heh. I got that nickname because I'm good with chargers."

He took off his Hero Jacket and Hero Headphones and threw them onto the bed, put back on his Toni Kensa Black Hi-Tops. He let his hair changed from lime green back to turquoise.

"How did you…" said Red, wincing a bit.

"What?" said Cadet.

"You've changed your hair color."

"It's just a simple trick for all Inklings. You should try it. It might work for you."

"Oh. At first, I thought you were…um…sanitized."

"No. That one might be different. This turquoise one is natural."

As they finished sorting Cadet's things, they came out from his new room and saw Blossom coming out from the bathroom; finishing a shower. She has a towel wrapped around her hair.

"I didn't know you were taking a bath," said Red.

"I just need one," said Blossom. "It felt so refreshing now. Your room is pretty nice, Olivia."

"Thank you," said Olivia proudly.

"Well now we are here," said Blossom. "What is a Turf War?"

"Oh, about that," said Olivia interested.

Olivia told Blossom and Red about how the Inklings play Turf Wars. She explained the rules, the weapons, the stages and the spawn points.

"That's pretty an intense sport," said Blossom. "Does everyone take Turf Wars seriously?"

"Just only the veteran squids," said Olivia. "Most of us play Turf Wars for fun."

"Did you play Turf War?" said Red.

"I played Turf Wars A LOT. I used to have a team before."

"I remember," said Cadet. "You called your team 'Team Candy' and you won three tournaments, right?"

"Yes," said Olivia.

"Were you famous in Inkopolis for Turf War?" said Blossom.

"Not really. My team was mainly well-known squids of Inkopolis. We lost in a few battles, but we won most of them. You should try Turf War someday."

"Nah," said Blossom. "After what happened, we should get some rest."

"Yeah," said Red. "Enough fighting and running around for now. We could do Turf War another day."

"Sure," said Olivia.

"Fine by me," said Cadet.

Suddenly, Olivia heard a familiar jingle on the TV she was watching.

"Ah!" said Olivia. "The news is on!"

The four looked at the TV. The Inkopolis News was on showing Pearl and Marina.

"Hmm," said Blossom. "They are dressed differently."

"That's their original outfits," said Cadet.

"You know what time is it?" said Pearl from the TV.

"This is Off the Hook coming to you live from Inkopolis Square," said Marina from the TV.

"We have breaking news!"

"The Great Zapfish has returned! Just earlier today, the Great Zapfish is seen back on Inkopolis Tower. This got many squids surprised asking 'How did it come back?' and 'Where had it been?'"

The TV changed to an image of the Great Zapfish on the Inkopolis Tower in Inkopolis Plaza.

"I never thought the Great Zapfish would return," said Olivia.

"And I never thought that we saved it," said Cadet.

"Do you think that everyone will know who stole the Great Zapfish and who saved it?" said Blossom.

"I doubt not," said Red. "But not now. Probably soon, but not when we are around."

"Hmm…For some reason, I remember it being bigger than that," continued Pearl.

"Yeah," agreed Marina. "For real. Was it always THAT small?"

"Anyway, in other news, Callie's been found! Reporters are asking her where was she and all she said was that she got lost in Calamari Country and it took her a while to get back. She is happily reunited with Marie, and the two said that they are planning to make a new album, possibly this Squidmas holidays!"

"We're glad you're back, Callie. Being without you made us all worried. Seriously! It takes two to make the one and only Squid Sisters!"

"EVEN MORE NEWS! Just today, we saw two octolings in Inkopolis Square!"

"True! But don't worry, they don't mean any harm to all of us. Please make them feel welcome. We know; maybe more octolings would come to Inkopolis!"

"So they decided to tell the world about us," said Blossom. "Well, this is unexpected."

"Hey, Marina," said Pearl. "Did you see those two octolings on the pictures on the Splatnet?"

"No," said Marina. "What happened there?"

"Ho, ho, ho! Let me show you. This one is a video by Gold-Victor. Thank you to him for sharing this today!"

Gold-Victor…that's Oro's nickname.

The TV started to play the video, showing the most embarrassing moment of Red's life of how the Inklings greeted them.

"Oh…my…GOSH!" said Olivia.

Red growled, his purple eye turning red. "Wait 'til I get to those two idiots. I will tear them off, tentacle by tentacle…"

"Um…" said Cadet. "Red? Are you OK?"

"What?" said Red. Then he noticed that Cadet looked worried.

"Oh…" said Red sheepishly – his right eye quickly turning back to purple. "Sorry. I got a bit uptight."

"Don't worry," said Olivia with a mischevious smirk. "The next time we meet Pearl and Oro, I have a nice 'surprise' for them."

Suddenly, Cadet felt his phone buzzing in his pant pocket.

"Huh?" he said as he took it out. He looked at it. It was from Marie.

"How did she…?" said Cadet before remembering something; he asked Marie if they could exchange phone numbers while in Octo Canyon. "Oh, right. Give me a second, guys."

He pressed the green button. He talked to Marie for a while before saying 'see you later' and ended the call.

"What is it?" said Olivia.

"Well," said Cadet. "To celebrate our victory, Off the Hook and the Squid Sisters are inviting us to a dinner party tonight."

"What?!" said Blossom and Red in unison.

"Ooh!" said Olivia. "At where?"

"It's at this fancy restaurant called 'Paradis'," said Cadet.

('Paradis' means 'paradise' in French)

"PARADIS!" said Olivia, jumping out from the couch. "That 5-star restaurant?!"

"I believe so…" said Cadet.

"I guess it's a reward for us," said Red.

"Then let's go," said Blossom. "Besides, I would like to explore Inkopolis today."

"OK then," said Olivia. "Give me a while, guys. Let me get change."

"O…livia?" said Cadet. Olivia was taking a long time changing clothes. Finally, she came out of her room.

She was wearing a Long Billed Cap, Matcha Down Jacket and Purple Hi-Horses. Also, Cadet swore he saw glitter on her cheeks.

"You look nice in that," said Blossom.

"Yeah," said Olivia. "I change different sets of clothes at times. I was planning to wear the Black Inky Rider, but I decided to settle with this jacket."

"Well you inklings are very fascinated with fashion clothing," muttered Red. "…and hairstyles."

"ALRIGHT!" said Olivia. "Now let's go for dinner. Hâte d'aller au restaurant!"

('Hâte d'aller au restaurant' means 'can't wait to go to that restaurant' in France)

Just as she opened the door, a mini Zapfish flew into the room and snuggled onto Cadet's chest. With a quick jerk of recognition, Cadet remembered that Zapfish. It was the Zapfish that Cadet saved first AND the one who tagged along with him when fighting Octavio.

"You?!" said Cadet. "What are you doing here?"

The mini Zapfish guggled something and took out a letter. Cadet looked at the message.

Hey Cadet,

This zapfish seems to really like you. I think it wants to stay with you. I'll let you keep this one as a pet.

See you tonight,

Marie.

Cadet was surprised. He looked at the mini Zapfish. "You…you wanted to stay with me?"

The mini Zapfish nodded. Cadet looked worried.

"Don't worry. I have some mini Zapfish here, and I can handle having pets. Also, I think I will give it a headgear so that you will know that this one is yours," said Olivia taking out a Black FishFry Bandana. She placed it onto that mini Zapfish.

Cadet looked at the mini Zapfish. It seemed to like him. Despite all the things we went through and the frustration he showed, the mini Zapfish loved him. He even has to admit that it was one of the first few friends.

"OK then," he said smiling at the mini Zapfish. "I'll take of you. I'll call you…Jet."

The mini Zapfish – now called Jet – purred happily and hugged Cadet. Cadet felt a bit of tears in his eyes.

"Guys," he said. "I want to tell you something."

"What is it?" said Olivia.

Cadet looked at the three people in front of him; Olivia, Blossom and Red. The four had gone through hard times and now, they are all together. With Inkopolis safe, they could relax. Surprisingly, they all felt like a family.

"Thank you," said Cadet. "Thank you for being my friends."

 **The End**

* * *

 **Five Days Later, Squid Sisters' Studio**

As Callie and Marie finished recording a song, they started heading to the rec room; walking through the hallway of the studio.

"Ah…" said Callie. "Doing this song was really good. I wish we could do it one more time."

"Save your lungs," said Marie. "We still have to set out the background music for our next song."

"YO!" yelled Pearl's voice through the hallway. "CALLIE! MARIE! COME OVER HERE!"

"Pearl," said Marina's voice. "You know you're not allowed to yell in a public building."

Confused, Callie and Marie turned back and found Pearl and Marina near one of the rooms. And there was another person with them.

That person surprised Callie and Marie.

At first, they both thought it was Blossom, but they saw that it was the wrong octoling.

The person was a 16-year old octoling with her fuchsia hair (with silver tips) tied up in a ponytail and her eyes were magenta. She was wearing black headphones, black trench coat, grey top, black pants and stained boots.

"AN OCTOLING?!" exclaimed Callie and Marie.

"Calm down, both you two," said Marina. "That octoling doesn't mean harm."

"Yeah," said Callie. "But why is she doing here?"

"First of all," said the octoling. "My name is Jazzy. And second, I got some news to tell you."

"What is it?" said Marie hoping that Jazzy wouldn't attack.

"Do…did you sang the Calamari Inkantation in Octo Valley two years ago?"

"Yeah…" said Callie. "Why's that?"

"Well, after hearing that song for a long time, many octolings decided to stop fighting; to stop trying to steal your Great Zapfish. But we can't live underground anymore. Many of them are on their way to the surface now. They aren't going to attack anyone. They will try to fit in and have a good time."

"How come you got here so fast?" said Marie.

"Well…" said Jazzy sheepishly. "I was a bit impatient, so I super jumped to nowhere until I landed onto Marina's chimney, getting my head stuck in it. I better get going now. I should look for my people and lead them here."

Callie smiled. "Well hope that the octolings will get here. I think that we can accept the octolings coming to Inkopolis, right Marie?"

Marie sighed. "Fine."

"Just to note," said Jazzy. "I believed that there are two other octolings here already, right?"

"Yeah," said Callie.

"Is it…Blossom and Red?"

"Well, yes! They are in Inkopolis now! You know them?"

Jazzy chuckled giddily. "Yeah…I was friends with them. I…I…used to be Red's girlfriend…"

"WHAT?!" said Callie and Marie.

They didn't assume that the octolings would be heading to Inkopolis, but definitely didn't expect that Jazzy is Red's GIRLFRIEND!

"Did Red tell us about it?" whispered Callie to Marie.

"I'm not sure," whispered Marie. "I even doubt that Red will remember that."

"Anyway," said Jazzy, who wasn't listening to Callie's and Marie's whispering. "I better be going. My friends would be wondering where I was. I better help them." She looked at Marina. "Thanks, Marina for letting me in."

"No problem," said Marina. "Be safe and keep watch of the octolings."

"See you later now!" said Jazzy winking.

She turned around and went to the exit. They watched as she closed the door and disappeared.

"I hope she will be alright," said Marina.

"Should we tell Blossom and Red about this?" said Callie.

"Nah," said Marie. "Let's make it a surprise. I wanted to see Red's reaction when he sees his girlfriend."

"Looks like we are going have new dudes in Inkopolis," said Pearl. "Inklings and Octolings; they would make a GOOD society."

* * *

 **AN: And we're done! The main story of Inkcredible - A Fresh Start comes to an end! I thank all the readers (you!) for reading this story and reached 844 views. Even though it's probably not enough, it had more views then Forces United (when it was released in the first month) when the story was released in the first month.**

 **However, the story doesn't end here; I will be uploading THREE BONUS chapters which our heroes will explore the city of Inkopolis. There will be more surprises to come!**

 **The idea of how Olivia revealed to Cadet that they were related comes from a fan-made Splatoon 2 animation called 'Splashout'; a funny animated series with an emotional twist in the first episode. It thought it would be sweet and surprising for Cadet to finally meet his long-lost sister.**

 **If you like this story: follow or favorite this story for updates of the story. Make sure to review this chapter on what you thought of this story. I'm OK of hearing improvements from you (please no flames).**

 **Until next time, stay fresh and keep on rocking.**


	12. Bonus Story 1 - A Night To Remember

**AN: Hey there my rock 'n' rollers! If anyone missed the last author's note, this is not the end of this story; I'm adding some special bonus stories. I wanted to put in some kind of aftermath showing what our heroes are doing now and exploring the city of Inkopolis. Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

 **Bonus Story 1 - A Night To Remember**

 **Inkopolis, 19/06, 7:37 pm**

The entire city lighted up with colorful neon lights as the night sky took over. The stars from the night shined brightly even though the bright lights of green, pink and yellow overpowered them.

In the streets, Blossom and Olivia were walking to the restaurant while carrying Cadet (in his squid form) and Red (in his octopus form) respectively. Jet the mini zapfish was following them behind.

"Olivia," said Red. "Does anyone else know about the New Squidbeak Splatoon?"

"Just only a few," said Olivia. "I only told Team Citrus about it and they promised not to tell."

"Oh," said Cadet. "Them, those nuisances."

"You know them before?" said Blossom.

"Well-"

"Hello there," said a voice nearby.

Looking left, they saw a male inkling leaning on a wall. His skin was tan, crimson pink hair with cyan tips and in a high ponytail. He's wearing a Paintball Mask (with a red visor), Chili-Pepper Ski-Jacket, long pants and Red Hi-Horses.

"What's up?" said the inkling.

Both Blossom and Red looked confused with the stranger.

"Who are you?" said Blossom.

The stranger laughed. "Here we go again. You know it's me, right?"

He took off the Paintball Mask revealing to have red eyes and army face paint stripes on his cheeks.

"Not a big surprise," said Cadet. "Hey there, Jedi."

"Oh," said Red noticing that Jedi's voice sounds clearer without the helmet on. "Why were you wearing that helmet?"

"I ALWAYS wear that helmet," said Jedi as he put it back on. "I've never gone anyway without it."

"But you weren't wearing it when we were in Deepsea Metro," pointed out Blossom.

"That's because the LAST helmet I wore was destroyed by a stupid machine," grumbled Jedi. "Now let's go. The restaurant is close by."

They all went to the restaurant. At first sight, Olivia gasped and accidentally dropped Red. It was a huge dark blue two-storey restaurant building with fancy-shaped windows. There was a huge glass door and above it saying 'Paradis' with 5 stars.

"Oh my gosh!" she said. "We're here!"

She started to head to the entrance and opened the glass door. Red got up and turned into his human form.

"She seems pretty excited about this," he said.

"You're OK?" said Blossom.

"I'm alright," said Red.

Cadet looked through the windows.

"It seems nobody is inside," he said.

"Well that restaurant is 5-stars," explained Jedi. "Only those rich and wealthy can afford to buy a table here. Callie and Marie must have paid a fortune for this place."

Cadet jumped out of Blossom's hands and turned back into his human form. They started to walk into the restaurant. As they entered the building, they noticed a large diamond chandelier hanging above them.

"Wow," said Blossom looking at it. "This place seems nice."

Cadet looked forward to seeing Olivia – who bumped into Callie and Marie – were in conversation with them. Callie wore Tinted Shades, Grape Tee and Pink Trainers and much to Cadet's surprise, Marie wore her kimono – the one she had on when Cadet met her. He even noticed that there were only a few people around, eating at their own individual tables.

"Finally," said Marie. "You've arrived."

"You decided to wear your robe again…" said Cadet. "…this time in public."

"It's all I have so that people won't recognize Callie and me though Callie nearly blew our cover."

"Thanks for inviting us here," said Cadet as he came towards her. "Is Captain Cuttlefish here?"

"He couldn't make it. He is busy watching Octavio in case he escapes."

Marie noticed that Blossom and Red were looking around the building in awe. She could understand why. The restaurant was amazing. The gold and black checkered floor, the golden chandeliers, the table set up nicely, roman pillars connected to the walls and there was even a large water fountain in the corner! Almost everything was perfect.

"You guys like this place?" said Marie.

"Well…" said Blossom. "I've never seen something this FANCY before."

"I guess it's your first time here at a 5-star restaurant."

As Cadet sat in his seat, another voice could be heard.

"HEY THERE FELLAS!"

It was Pearl. Blossom and Red looked up to see Pearl nearby the entrance of the rec room.

"Hi Pearl," said Blossom.

"Good to see you!" said Pearl. "You should come over here. There's a lot of good stuff in here."

Blossom and Red followed Oro. Cadet was about to when Callie tapped his shoulder.

"Hey Cadey," said Callie. "May I have a chat with you? I would like to get to know you."

Cadet felt as if he's on a date. "S…sure."

He sat down in his seat along with Olivia and Jedi. Jet rested on Cadet's head.

"First," said Callie. "Why's your name 'Cadet'?"

Cadet laughed a bit. "Funny. I got that name because my hair has dark turquoise tips; similar to the cadet blue colour."

"That's a certain text," said Olivia.

"Wait a minute," said Jedi. "How old are you?"

"I'm 14," said Cadet. "I'm going to be 15 in a few weeks."

"What?!" said Jedi before turning to Marie. "You hired a boy THAT young to save the Great Zapfish?"

"But Cadet's an expert sniper," said Marie. "Also, you were 14 when you joined the New Squidbeak Splatoon."

Meanwhile, Pearl took Blossom and Red inside the rec room. The two octoling twins were surprised by the beautiful rec room. It was a large black room with different arcade games on the sides of the walls. In the middle were a large pool table and a large light above it. And oh, Marina was there.

"Hi there you two!" said Marina. "Good to see you."

"Yeah…" said Red, still looking around. The whole place was unfamiliar to him. "What's that over there?"

"That's a pool table," said Marina. "It's pretty common for an arcade, a casino or a rec room."

"What's a…casino and a rec room?" said Red.

"What do you know?" said Pearl sarcastically. "You do not know a lot of stuff up here. But don't worry; you'll get used to these new things. I showed Marina everything in Inkopolis."

Suddenly, Pearl got an idea.

"Hey Red," she said a smirk. "I challenge you to play one of these arcade games."

Red raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Let's make it EASY for both of us," said Pearl pointing over to an arcade machine. "This is World War 3; a first-shooter on-rails game."

Red looked at the arcade machine. "First-shooter?"

"It's basically a video game where you need to shoot enemies," said Pearl as she started up the machine. " Let me demonstrate it for you, and I will go first."

Pearl grabbed one of the player guns and pointed it at the screen. As she pressed the trigger, the display showed that she shot a lot of targets, scoring a lot of points. Every time she shot, she was making a lot of moves, apparently showing off. It seemed like as if the game was TOO easy for her.

The game finished and Pearl barely missed a shot in the game. Her score was 63,586.

"Hah!" said Pearl. "First try!"

Red stared dumbly at Pearl. He didn't know that she could shoot well.

"It's your turn!" said Pearl giving the controller gun to Red. "And this time…I'll be turning up the difficulty!"

"What?" said Red.

Before Red could ask, Pearl, activated the machine and pulled the lever from medium to HARD. The game began and this time, the targets on the screen were going moving faster than before. Red hadn't even shoot yet.

"Holy carp," said Red. This is difficult. Sure he used the Octo Shot before, but he never did something that IMPOSSIBLE.

Closing his eyes, he pressed the trigger.

BANG!

He shot a target. Red sighed in relief. Maybe this wouldn't be too bad. He continued to shoot. He was able to pull a lot of marks, scoring a lot of points. He wasn't showing off, but he was just humming a tune.

Finally, the game finished. Like Pearl, Red didn't miss a shot. He scored 95,216.

"Well that went well," said Red flatly.

Pearl stared in shock, her mouth agape and her eyes widened up. She couldn't believe that Red beat her.

No way. He couldn't beat her. Pearl would not be defeated.

Pearl growled and glared at Red angrily.

"Let's play again," said Pearl as Red looked at her. "This time, it's 1 v 1."

"OK…" said Red.

Pearl activated the machine again – more like smashing the start button angrily – and the game began. Pearl gave Red one more glare and started to shoot. She was shooting a lot of targets. Red sighed. She was getting competitive.

"You know what?" he thought. "Fine then."

He turned and started to shoot the targets. It was tense in the atmosphere for both of them. They were gaining points, but it was nearly impossible to see what were the scores as they continued to increase.

Meanwhile, Marina was teaching Blossom how to play pool.

"OK," said Marina as Blossom held onto the stick. "Go into the starting position and hit the ball."

Blossom looked at the ball she was aiming at. For some reason, it looked like the 8-ball she had to use during the tests back at Deepsea Metro. She felt as if she was back in the test…except less tense and it was a silly AND retarded game.

"One…" said Blossom as she moved the stick back and forth. "…two…THREE!"

She hit the ball, and it hit the other balls. Unfortunately, her hit was so hard that it bounced off the pile of balls and flew towards Blossom.

WHAM!

The black ball hit Blossom's face before bouncing off and flew through the air…towards the World War 3 arcade game. It hit the lever, and it went back a bit TOO MUCH.

Pearl and Red were greeted by a sign appearing on the screen: DIFFICULTY: EXPERT. The difficulty level over EXTREME.

Then, it got worse. The targets started to move fast that they become dark streaks barely visible to see. The screen was moving too fast.

"What the…?!" said Pearl in shock. She tried to fire only to miss a couple of targets.

Red looked at the screen, getting overwhelmed by the fast-moving targets. It was ridiculous.

Nobody could do something this hard.

Red sighed. There was only one thing to do; shot rapidly at nowhere. He closed his eyes and clicked the trigger continuously. Even though he couldn't see, he shot many targets.

Finally, the game was over. Red opened his eyes. On the screen, it said that his score was 3,468,479 points!

If Red's eyes could pop through his glasses, they would. He couldn't believe this would happen.

And so did Pearl.

* * *

"Oh!" said Callie in awe. "No wonder!"

"Yeah…" said Cadet. He was asked a lot of questions. He almost explained EVERYTHING to her. "Wait a minute…are Oro and Mary coming?"

"No. Mary is already out for dinner with her team, and Oro is at battle practice."

Olivia looked up to see some waiters walking over to them.

"Oh, would you look at that," said Olivia. "The food is here."

As the waiters served the food, Cadet couldn't believe what he saw. There was a lot of food including cheesy pizzas, tall burgers, massive spaghetti, long hot dogs, bowls of popcorn…you named it. There's even a large vanilla cake in the middle with pink frosting and lime drizzles.

"Wow," said Cadet. "You must have spent a lot of money."

"It's all good," said Marie. "This is how celebrities buy food."

"Time to eat," said Jedi happily as he picked up a slice of pizza.

"Jedi," said Olivia. "You still have your helmet on."

"Oh," said Jedi as he put his pizza slice on his plate and took off his helmet. "I forgot."

"Shall we pray?" said Oliva.

"Hang on," said Marie. "Where are the others?"

That was when a manly noise came from the rec room.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"BURN! BURN!"

"Probably fighting for bragging rights," said Marie.

Blossom and Marina came out from the rec room along with a prideful Red and a ticked-off Pearl.

"I can't believe it," muttered Pearl. "I can't believe it."

"What just happened?" asked Callie.

"Red beat Pearl in an arcade game," said Marina.

"I've only lost because I went EASY on him!" said Pearl angrily. "I demand a REMATCH! NOW!"

"Let's not," said Red. "Not now."

Blossom eyed at the food. "That looks nice. What is all this?"

"Just a fancy feast," said Callie. "Dig in!"

Soon, Blossom and Red found themselves to eating all these new and unusual food. Even though they were unfamiliar with all these new things, they tasted pretty good.

"So…" said Marie with a smile as Blossom helped herself to a second helping of spaghetti. "Enjoying the meal?"

"It tastes nice!" said Blossom. "Thank you!"

On the other hand, Red was playing with his food. He was stirring his soup around, enjoying how the different patterns of swirls appeared on it. He looked up to see Pearl and Marina having only ONE utensil each; Pearl used a fork and Marina used a spoon.

"Pearl," said Red. "Marina. Why are you two only using one utensil?"

"Well I only use the fork, because forks are superior in every way!" said Pearl smugly. "They are sophisticated and versatile. They can stab, and they can scoop."

"But how would you drink soup with just using a fork?" said Marina. "You get to scoop MORE food when using spoons."

"Spoons are just tiny SHOVELS. The utensil of cavesquids and gillbreathers."

As Pearl and Marina bickered about which utensil is the best, Cadet sighed – his bandanna uncovering his mouth under the demand of Olivia.

"Here we go again," said Cadet. "Fighting about a useless Splatfest."

"Splatfest?" said Red confused.

"It's a special festival held in Inkopolis. People choose sides to bet which different topics are the best in Turf Wars. Recently, it started to have stupid themes such as 'Sweater VS Sock', 'Chicken VS Egg', 'Pulp VS No-Pulp' and 'Pocky Chocolate Vs Pocky Gokubosa' which is the SAME FOOD."

"Were there at least any exciting themes?"

"Well, some like 'Flight VS Invisibility', 'Sci-Fi VS Fantasy' and 'Retro VS Modern'. Anyway, it seemed that many inklings took Splatfests TOO seriously, causing too many conflicts."

"Well I guess there will be a war soon,' said Red laughing a bit.

"At least some inklings like me aren't that STUPID into fighting over stupid topics," said Cadet. "I just hope that the next one won't be bad."

Cadet noticed that Red's soup remained contact.

"You didn't drink your soup," said Cadet.

"Oh," said Red. "Sorry. I was just playing with it. It's a bit new to me."

"Then I'm happy to show you around Inkopolis. In no time, you'll understand everything."

Red felt Jedi tapping on his shoulder.

"Excuse me," said Jedi. "Can I talk with you for a while?"

"OK," said Red getting up.

Jedi led Red to the bathroom and closed the door.

"So first," began Jedi. "During our fight, I remembered that I saw your body glowing red. Am I right?"

"Um…" said Red surprised. "Yeah? Why's that?"

Jedi sighed. "This is a secret I always kept. I've never shared it with everyone, but Olivia knows about this."

He held up his hand and then, it glowed red.

"Oh," said Red. "I saw that. When you were hypnotized, I saw your body glowing red."

"So you do know," said Jedi. "I guess that makes us a devil squid and a devil octopus."

"Devil what?"

"Well, devil squids and octopuses are rare. A long time ago, those species were known to be evil monsters and demons. They have superpower strength, unlike any other normal creature. Back then, they were in packs and went on a hunt for blood. However, after the Great Turf War, they all became instinct. I was born as a devil squid, but I didn't have any desire to kill. Normally, devil squids and devil octopuses are known for their red eyes, but today, that was forgotten."

"Nobody knows about you as a devil squid?"

"No. They just think I'm just a freak. Anyway, I only discovered this power when I was 14. I've never told my family and friends about it. I thought I was the only one, until now."

Red was shocked. "So you're saying that I'm a devil octopus?"

Jedi nodded.

"So I got a red eye," continued Red. "…and both my eyes can turn red, which means that I'm one.

"Correct," said Jedi. "So for the time being, I want you to keep this a secret."

"But Blossom saw me glowed once before."

"That was just once. If this power becomes a THING, then we should open up. You know what I mean. You should only get this power at the age of 17. I want you to control it and don't use it when you're angry. I don't want you to fall into the same mistake as I did."

Red stared at Jedi. Judging by the look in his blood red eyes, Jedi might be right. What would happen if he reveals to everyone that he's a devil octopus? He has to keep it locked. Besides, he doesn't want to use that power when he's upset. He nearly killed Jedi and that's already enough.

"OK," said Red. "I will."

* * *

 **AN: Welp, that wouldn't last long. We might see Red's powers again later in the series!**

 **Funny thing; Jedi NEARLY looks like the GMOD youtuber named Alex Spider...except Jedi is somewhat a red recolor of that youtuber.**

 **Special thanks to the Sensational SpiderDom321 for the butt-load of reviews. You must have read the whole story in one go because your reviews are popping up rapidly. Thanks to him and the other people who follow/favorite this story.**

 **If you like this story: follow or favorite this story for updates of the story. Make sure to review this chapter on what you thought of this story. I'm OK of hearing improvements from you (please no flames).**

 **I won't be around for a while. I'm going on a LITERALLY FIGURATIVELY hot family trip to Malaysia. I'll be gone for 15 days (and hope that I will survive and so does my laptop AND my files). Once I get back to Australia, I'll upload the last two bonus stories. Keep your eyes open for them because there will be special guests; the soul-stirring, remarkable Infinite's Ruby and a friend of mine will be helping me in the next two chapters so stick around!**

 **Until next time, keep on rocking!**


	13. Bonus Story 2 - Squid Hangout Part 1

**AN: What's up? I'm back from my trip with another bonus chapter! For the next two chapters, I will be introducing new OCs made by the incredible Infinite's Ruby and a special friend of mine. I would like to thank these two for those amazing OCs! Enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

 **Bonus Story 2: Squid Hangout Part 1**

 **Olivia's Apartment, 20/06, 10:48 am**

Grey clouds covered the whole sky. It was said to be cold in the morning, and it would be raining soon so Turf Wars might be cancelled. Olivia came into the living room in her Hero Suit, seeing Cadet lying on the couch, eating a bowl of muruku. **[1]**

"Hey there, little brother," said Olivia. "You're doing alright?"

"I'm alright," said Cadet.

"Well, I have one task for you to do."

"What is it?"

"I'm going to Pearl's house as she needs some help to renovate furniture. So while I am gone, I want you to guide Blossom and Red around Arowana Mall."

Hearing this nearly caused Cadet to spew out his muruku.

"WHAT?!" said Cadet aloud. "Me?"

"Oh c'mon," said Olivia. "You promised that you would guide Blossom and Red about Inkopolis."

"But…"

Suddenly, Olivia felt her phone buzzing in her jacket. She took it out and looked at it.

"Oh," she said. "Jedi is already at Pearl's house. I got to go."

"But…" said Cadet as he watched Olivia head for the door.

"Sorry!" said Olivia. "Got to go now! See you at the mall at lunch time!"

"But…"

SLAM!

Cadet stared at the door dumbfounded. Olivia is already gone so there was no point in getting out of being a tour guide. He didn't want to as he wasn't much of a shopping fan.

"So…" said Blossom from behind him. "Ready to go."

Cadet sighed and muttered something in Inkling language. "Fine."

* * *

Reluctantly, Cadet decided to take Blossom and Red to Arowana Mall which was at Inkopolis Plaza. In their cephalopod forms, Cadet, Blossom and Red swam their way to the centre of the city. Cadet could have told Jet to come along, but the zapfish wanted to rest and were not interested in shopping.

They reached the front of the giant mall. Blossom and Red lifted up their heads to look around. The mall was a large 3-storey building in a light tan color. There's a large glass shelter with the words 'Arowana Mall' in pink, though it's in Inkling language. There's a large sliding glass door covered with various pink and neon green stickers.

The mall is sometimes used for Turf Wars; mostly the top level which is exposed to the sky. However, the recent Turf War that's supposed to happen at the mall is cancelled due to heavy rain.

Oops. Speak of the devil; the grey clouds became darker. Thunder could be heard faintly. Rain started to pour down, hitting the trio with water droplets.

"Of course," said Cadet. "It's starting to rain. Let's get inside."

They swam to the glass shelter and turned back into their human forms. For today, Cadet decided to wear the Hero Hoodie instead of his regular Black Zip Hoodie. He still wore his Skull Bandanna.

"This place is pretty big," said Red.

"Yeah," said Cadet. "I don't even know where to start with."

He opened the door and led the two octoling twins inside. They were amazed by how awesome it was inside. There were several different stores in bright colors. Most of them were modern because of the black and white style. The stores have different signs and logos in which Blossom and Red could barely understand.

"Wow," said Blossom in awe. "This is so cool."

"This is better than the shops back home," said Red. "Where shall we go first?"

Cadet shrugged. "I don't know. Let's just roam around this place and see what interest you until our legs break. Then, we will buy lunch."

"Do you know any of the shops around here?" asked Blossom.

"I do know ALL the shopping brands. It's just that I don't shop that much. Besides, I'm a bit sick of having to be dragged to this place. I don't think I could follow you all over this mall."

"You need to guide them IN the mall?" said a voice out of nowhere.

Cadet yelped and spun around. In front of him was Oro; upside down and in the air. As if by magic, he spun around 180 degrees and landed gently onto the floor.

Blossom and Red didn't recognize Oro as he was wearing a Birded Corduroy Jacket, short jeans and Orca Woven Hi-Tops, but they knew him for his mint green hairstyle.

"Then let me help you show you the place," said Oro winking in a flirting manner (at Blossom). "Let the FRESHEST KID OF INKOPOLIS be your tour guide."

If there were music playing, it would be scratched to a stop because next to him was the annoyed Hunter.

"Really?" said Hunter. "Do you HAVE to greet people in this way?"

"C'mon!" disagreed Oro. "It was nice. Right guys?"

He looked at Cadet, Blossom and Red for an answer, but the three just stared at him awkwardly.

Crickets.

There was silence until Hunter broke it upon seeing Cadet.

"Well there you are, Skull Sniper," said Hunter, still looking grumpy.

"Hi Hunter," said Cadet.

"Do you really think it was your BEST idea to run away?"

Cadet felt tense in his stomach. Uh oh. He recalled that he was away for so long and here was Hunter wanting for some answer. He hasn't come up with a lie or an excuse to say why he was away.

"Oh…" stammered Cadet. "…y-you see…it's because…"

"Don't make a lie," said Hunter in a firm but soft voice. "I already know what was going on. Being upset didn't mean you get to run away."

Cadet skipped a heartbeat. Did Hunter said 'being upset didn't mean you get to run away'?

"W…what did you mean?" said the Skull Sniper.

"Well Oro told me everything," said Hunter. "You ran away because of what happened in that Turf War. I can't believe that you chose to isolate from others when I was trying to look for you. I was so worried about you the whole time!"

Cadet looked at Oro who put his finger over his mouth gesturing not to tell Hunter about their secret. He sighed in relief in his mind. Oro already came up with a fake story to still keep the secret safe.

"I'm…I'm sorry…" said Cadet.

"Just please don't run away next time," said Hunter now with a concerned look. "I don't want you to isolate yourself from others."

Cadet looked down. Even though the whole 'running away from Inkopolis' was a lie, Hunter might be right. Cadet DID isolate himself from others as much as possible.

"Anyway," said Oro changing the topic and pushing Hunter towards the two octoling twins. "I would like to introduce you to two newcomers. This is Blossom and her twin brother Red. Guys, meet Hunter."

Hunter looked at the two octolings suspiciously. Both Blossom and Red felt nervous. Remember what Olivia said? 'Inklings are not so bad'? It seemed that Hunter is an anti-fan of octolings. Hunter was observing as if gazing into their souls.

"Let me guess," said Hunter after a long pause. "You were the guys on the video with 11 million views on Splatnet that Oro uploaded."

Red felt a burning on his cheeks. "N-no! I…I mean yes…"

Hunter stared (or somewhat glared) at the octolings for a long time before saying, "I don't really like octolings, but you don't SEEM to be a threat. Anyway, nice to meet you."

Hunter shook both the octolings' hands, before crossing both his arms.

"Well we already did introductions," said Oro grabbing Blossom's hand. "Let's go!"

He ran off while dragging Blossom.

"Wait!" said Blossom. "Slow down!"

As Cadet, Red and Hunter watched on, Hunter gave Red one more hostile stare before turning his back and followed Oro behind.

Blossom looked behind to see Hunter's glare.

"I don't think that 'Hunter' boy likes us," she said.

"Don't worry about it," said Oro. "It's just his manner. He can get moody most of the times, but be Mr Flower sometimes."

As Red and Cadet caught up with Hunter, the latter spoke.

"Want to play a betting game?" said Hunter. "I bet that Oro will flip out when he saw that one of his favorite brands is on a 40% discount."

And all you hear next was this:

"OH MY GOSH!" screamed Oro's voice. "40% DISCOUNT!"

"See?" said Hunter rolling his eyes.

Cadet cringed. Red couldn't help but laughed a bit.

* * *

After a long time of begging Oro to slow down, Blossom adjusted herself and looked around the environment.

"Everything in this mall has a place that suits your interest," said Oro waving his hand around. "Not only do we have designed clothing, but there are other interesting things; weapons, technology, school supplies, music…you name it! Probably, you might find something you…"

His voice dropped when he turned around to look at Blossom only to realize that Blossom disappeared.

"Where did she go?" he thought.

He looked at the shop behind him; a large botany shop which mostly sells flowers. In there, he spotted the girl with octopus hair.

"…like," said Oro in disgust, finishing his sentence. "Out of all the shops, why would someone go look at flowers?"

F.Y.I, Oro wasn't a fan of plants. He didn't really like flowers and saw them as something girls would like. Sure, Blossom IS a girl, but Oro wondered why she would admire them.

He heard Cadet, Red and Hunter catching up with them.

"Where is Blossom?" asked Red.

"There," said Oro pointing at the shop.

Meanwhile, Blossom was strolling through the vast hallways of flowers. Even though she didn't know what they were, they looked so pretty. She was looking at them and liked all of them in every way. She stopped at a large cherry blossom tree. It was a large tree with a black stump, black branches and light pink flowers.

She turned around when she heard footsteps. It was Red.

"There you are!" said Red. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh," said Blossom. "I saw those…'things'…and I kind of admire them."

Red looked at the cherry blossom tree. He has to admit, it seemed nice.

"Do you know what that is?" he asked.

Blossom shrugged. "I don't know."

Cadet, Oro and Hunter were able to find them.

"Hey guys," said Blossom pointing at the cherry blossom tree. "Do you know what that is?"

"I thought that was obvious," said Oro with a smirk.

Blossom tilted her head. "What is it?"

Hunter rolled his eyes. "It's a tree, genius."

"So…that's how a 'tree' looks like?"

Hunter's face screwed up. "Do you live under a rock or are you just stupid? For goodness sake, it's not that hard to know what they are. These days, people are just so oblivi-"

He was cut off when an upset Cadet stomped onto his foot. Hunter just glared at Cadet – undaunted by the painful stomp as if it's just something normal in life – before giving Blossom a disgusted look. Red gritted his teeth, upset that Hunter criticised Blossom.

Blossom felt a bit upset. "I… I don't think I saw this kind of things back home."

"Well about time you know," grumbled Hunter.

"It's not my fault!" said Blossom now mad. "My brother and I lived underground and we NEVER knew about these things that you know on the surface!"

"Wait, WHAT?!" said Hunter in shock. "You lived underground?!"

Blossom and Red nodded. Hunter gave them a concerned look.

"Do you know what a plant is?" questioned Hunter.

"No," said Blossom.

"A thundercloud?"

"No," said Red.

"A burger?"

"Only known about it yesterday.

"An umbrella?"

"Not really know what it does."

Hunter paused a long time before saying, "So let me get this straight…you lived underground…and you don't know a lot of what on's the surface?"

Blossom and Red nodded again.

Hunter stared at them and sighed guiltily.

"Forgive me," he said. "I didn't know that you're new to the surface. Now I understand."

"Apology accepted," said Red simply.

"Let's go already," said Cadet. "I'm a bit allergic to pollen, so I don't want to be around in this place for long."

As he finished his sentence, he sneezed.

"OK," said Hunter. "Let's go."

They started to head to the exit of the shop. Oro went up to Blossom and Red.

"By the way," said Oro. "That was a cherry blossom tree."

"Oh," said Red. "That's similar to sister's name."

"The tree looks beautiful," said Blossom.

"So are you," said Oro.

Blossom blushed a bit. Did Oro just say that she looks beautiful?

Red looked at Oro suspiciously. Blossom immediately shook the thought away.

* * *

Cadet noticed that the clouds were getting darker as he looked at the glass ceiling. The rain pattering on the ceiling could be heard.

"It's not so sunny," said Hunter to Red. "You could take your sunglasses off."

"N—no thanks," said Red. "I like to wear them."

Hunter raised an eyebrow, smirking. "You remind me of Sunny. She's shy of taking her sunglasses off."

"Why's that?"

"Well-"

CRACK!

A loud crack of white flashing lightning bolt struck from the clouds, making a loud booming sound. Blossom jumped a bit. Red looked around in shock, wondering what was going on. Cadet flinched at the sound of the thunder strike.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" she exclaimed.

Another lightning bolt crackled. This time, Blossom hid behind Oro and screamed.

Oro laughed. "Are you having a mental breakdown or something? Calm down now. Calm down. It's just lightning and thunder. It's when lighting comes down from the sky and makes a loud noise."

"So…it's electricity?"

"Correct! Don't worry. The mall is immune to that. If it hits the building, the electricity won't flow through the walls…unless it's metal."

Red thought for a while. "Have you guys been struck by one before?"

"Why would someone wanted to be struck by lightning?" said Hunter.

"I'm just asking. My sister and I learnt electrical currents, and we learnt that electricity could zap and flow through a person as if that person is part of a circuit. That is dangerous."

"Well I didn't," said Hunter.

"Same," said Cadet as another lightning bolt flashes the sky. "I don't like being outsides when there's lightning."

"Oro have been struck by one," said Hunter matter-of-factly.

"Wait, you have?" said Red, looking at Oro. "How did that happen?"

"No, no, no!" said Oro. "That's just a l-"

"Well…" said Hunter.

* * *

 **One and a half years ago**

A battered and ticked-off Oro was about to go into the bathroom for a shower. Not only he was covered in black ashes, but his hair was also severely messed up; four of his tentacles were burnt as a result of battle practising in the rain.

Hunter gave Oro a smirk. "So…what did we learn?"

"Oh, shut up," growled Oro before slamming the door.

* * *

"Wait," said Red. "You're squidding me, aren't you?"

"It's all true," said Hunter smiling, regardless of Oro glaring daggers at him.

Blossom looked at Cadet with a worried look.

"So…it's not safe to be struck by a lightning bolt?" said Blossom.

"Yep," said Cadet. "Don't worry. We won't be struck by one."

Blossom's eye caught something a few meters away from them.

"What's that?" said Blossom pointing at the huge shop.

"That?" said Cadet. "That shop is for a brand called Tentatek. A pretty famous clothing brand."

"Hmm…" said Blossom, reading one of the signs in the shop. "70% discount on all products."

Hearing this, Oro's head turned 180 degrees to face the shop.

"Oh no…" said Hunter.

"What's wrong?" said Red.

Hunter didn't need to tell why. Oro zoomed past them and into the Tentatek shop.

"Oh…" said Red. "Right…"

"Oro!" called Hunter. "You better not buy that expensive diamond watch and give back my credit card."

And all you hear from Oro is this:

"Oh, #? %! He figured it out!" **[2]**

* * *

Eventually, Oro listened to Hunter and decided to take Cadet and Red around the shop while Hunter guided Blossom. Blossom looked at the different products. There were a lot of different clothes – mostly shoes – in bright neon colors. The sale prices dropped to lower rates. She wondered if that's why Inklings were very obsessed with fashion.

"It's so nice here," said Blossom as she looked around. "Is Oro really THAT keen to buy that 'diamond watch'?"

"Well you could say yes," said Hunter as he leaned on a wall.

As Blossom took out a mini journal – the one Olivia gave it to her – Hunter cleared his throat.

"Hey Blossom," said Hunter. "When did you and your brother arrive at Inkopolis?"

"Just yesterday," said Blossom as she started writing something in her journal.

"How?"

Blossom stopped. "Wait, can you say that again?"

"How did you get to Inkopolis?" asked Hunter.

Blossom felt tense. She was NOT ready for this. Hunter didn't know about the New Squidbeak Splatoon and she couldn't tell him about the adventure that just happened. What happens if she tells him? Would everyone then understand that the Octarians stole the Great Zapfish? If she did, she is in big trouble. She quickly came up with a lie.

"My brother and I traveled from the underground to here," said Blossom. "It took us a few days and we arrived here."

"And why?" said Hunter.

Blossom felt tense again. She didn't really want to tell why she wanted to get away from her people. It would be sad to think about the miserable life she had back there. Then, she remembered that she opened up her sadness to Olivia and probably Hunter might understand.

Blossom sighed. "I ran away from my home because I couldn't afford to live in a place where there are bullies. They all believe that the strong should live and the weak should die."

Hunter was surprised. "So…you were bullied before?"

Blossom nodded sadly.

Hunter shrugged. "Hey. That happened to some people as well. I did all I could to drive away those that bother others. You know that bullying has been happening everywhere."

"But I barely have any friends back there," said Blossom. "I only looked up to my brother the whole time."

"At least Inkopolis is better than your home. About 87% of the people aren't bullies and some are already drifting away from the bully persona so you should be fine here. And of course, I saw on Splatnet that many people started to like you."

"Yeah…" said Blossom uncomfortably. She didn't want to think about that.

"'Yep. I knew Oro would do that. Don't worry; you will be just fine here."

Blossom smiled. She started writing down some poems in her journal, based on the products she saw.

 _I see you walking down the street._

 _You think you're slick in those lime kicks,_

 _But they'd look fresher on my feet._

 _The squishing footsteps trudge in muck._

 _Their path revealed by heavy heel._

 _My heart beats quick a stroke of luck!_

 _Such devilfish-may-care coture—_

 _The colors clash and make a splash!_

 _Without a doubt, footwear du jour._

 _This swells a stir of royal pride._

 _In small or large, you lead the charge._

 _The ink of nobles flows inside._

"Hey," said Hunter making Blossom jumped in surprise that she accidentally pressed her pencil on the page and drew a line over it. "What are you writing?"

"Just some poems," said Blossom deciding to show it to him. "I use writing as a hobby."

Hunter looked at one of them and nodded in interest. "Huh. You are not a bad writer. It seemed that ALL those poems are five steps ahead of Oro's bad rap lyrics for Off the Hook."

"Thank you," said Blossom gratefully. "I am planning to become a poet. I know technology as well."

Hunter gave the journal back to Blossom. "Some of your poems are a bit in somewhat a strange English language. You remind me of Angelo."

As Blossom started to write another poem in her journal, Hunter asked another question.

"Apart from your brother, did anyone else come along with you?" asked Hunter.

"Nope," said Blossom. "Just me and my brother."

"What about the rest of your family? Your parents?"

Blossom stopped writing. Her family? Her parents? She tried to think of her relatives, but nothing came to mind. There was no memory of her being with any other family.

"I…I don't know," said Blossom. "I don't know my parents."

"W…what?!" said Hunter shocked. "What do you mean you-"

"My brother and I were travelling to Inkopolis when a mysterious person attacked us," said Blossom quickly coming up with another lie. "That person shot us in the head with some strange ink. It caused us to suffer amnesia, but there's this girl named Olivia Classy who helped us. We were able to recall many of our memories, but I don't remember my parents."

Hunter raised an eyebrow. "So let me get it straight. You lost your memories due to BRAIN DAMAGE by an unidentified ink, is it?"

Blossom nodded sadly and looked down.

"Do you think that your parents might think that you ran away?" asked Hunter. "Would they come here to find you?"

A wave of realisation hit Blossom. Her parents. She…she and her brother left them. Even though she might not remember them, she is now worried. What might have happened if her parents knew that she ran away? Would they be worried? Would they call the Octarian forces to find them?

"I don't only think so," said Blossom slowly. "But I KNOW so. They might be looking for my brother and me already, but I don't think I'll be able to recognize them."

"I hope that they will be alright," said Hunter.

"I hope so too," said Blossom. "Maybe I should try to remember how they look like and start finding them."

Not far from them was a group of 4 inklings - with the same orange hair color and carrying camping clothes - walking towards them, not noticing Blossom and Hunter yet. They were known as Team Citrus.

In front of the group is Aki; a female 16-year old inkling with her hair tied up in a high ponytail (similar to the octoling ponytail) with black tips and have grey eyes. She wore Sennyu Headphones, Samurai Jacket (without the spaulders and the skirt) and Black Seahorses.

On her left was Swift, a male 15-year old inkling, his long hair combed to the back with blue tips and green eyes. He wore an Armor Jacket Replica, shorts and long compression pants, and New-Leaf Leather Boots. He was carrying a Null Visor Replica.

On Aki's right was Lil-X, a male 16-year old inkling with his long tentacles combed to the left with red tips and brown eyes. He was wearing a Forge Mask, Black Zip Hoodie (with a shark face on the hood), shorts and Black Norimaki 750s.

Bringing up the rear was Alex; a female 15-year old inkling with her hair tied up in a low ponytail with green tips and blue eyes. She had on a Jellyvader Cap, Grey Hoodie, shorts and Black Seahorses.

"Is that all the things we need to buy for the upcoming camp?" asked Aki to her team.

"I think we have it all," said Alex.

"Seriously," said Lil-X. "Why do we need to buy more clothes and waste money instead of using the same clothes for the camp?"

"Didn't we told you that before?" said Alex snobbishly.

"We need the extra thick clothes to warm ourselves up," said Swift. "It's going to be cold at the campsite, so we need to get the right-"

He was cut off when he spotted Blossom at the corner.

"OCTOLING!"

Meanwhile, Blossom decided to tell Hunter something.

"You know what's funny?" said Blossom. "I always have this feeling of something might happen bad later on."

"Why do you always feel that?" asked Hunter.

"I…I don't know. Probably I worried about fate too much."

Hunter rolled his eyes in somewhat a playful manner. "There's no such thing as FATE…NOR destiny. The only fate people have is death when getting older. I don't think that anything bad will happen now."

At this, a flying Null Visor Replica came flying through the air and hit Blossom on the head.

THONK!

Blossom fell on the ground. "Ow…What the heck?!"

She looked up to see a screaming Swift coming towards her.

"OH CARP!" Blossom screamed.

And that was the last thing she said before Swift's boot connected with her face.

* * *

 **AN: Welp...I guess the first impression of Team Citrus reacting to seeing an octoling in real life.**

 **[1] For those who do not know muruku before, it's an Indian spiral snack. I decided to add that in for fun.**

 **[2]** **Please excuse the words replaced by various symbols as the letters for that word were caught in traffic and unable to make it here on time for the chapter. :3**

 **Also, the poems Blossom wrote are the poems from the mem cakes in Octo Expansion. Of course, they don't belong to me.**

 **For those wondering why Hunter can act obnoxious, he always expects people to be smart and know what they are doing. He can easily predict when someone does something stupid. And for those wondering why Swift jumps on Blossom...you have to find out what's going to happen in the next chapter.**

 **Again, I would like to thank Infinite's Ruby for making her OC - Aki - for my story. Big round of applause for her. Also, I would like to thank my friend for making Lil X for me. I'm not going to say his name (for safety reasons), but his character is inspiring.**

 **In the next chapter, we will see what Team Citrus think about Blossom and Red AND we might bump into a few known characters in this story.**

 **If you like this story: follow or favorite this story for updates of the story. Make sure to review this chapter on what you thought of this story. I'm OK of hearing improvements from you (please no flames).**

 **Until next time, keep on rocking and happy Chinese new year.**


	14. Bonus Story 3 - Squid Hangout Part 2

**AN: Hey there! I'm back! Here is the second part of Squid Hangout. Now where we're we...oh, yes! Team Citrus spotted Blossom and Swift jumped onto Blossom...**

* * *

 **Bonus Story 3: Squid and Octopus Hangout Part 2**

Meanwhile, on the other side, Cadet and Red were walking together to find Hunter and Blossom. Oro had to take a leak, so he went to the toilet for a quick whiz. During this, Cadet taught Red how to change his hair color at ease in which Red changed his hair color to purple.

"So you're the youngest!" said Red during his and Cadet's conversation. "No wonder you look so small."

"You know that we are at the same height like the other inklings," said Cadet. **[1]**

"Say, Cadet. You know where I came from; what about you? Were you born here?"

"No. I was born in Australia. I'm an Aboriginal Australian." **[2]**

"Oh. I thought you are local-"

All of a sudden, Red gasped. Cadet stopped. He saw what Red was looking at. Upon seeing Blossom lying face down with a retarded Inkling punching her on the head with a ticked-off Hunter watching, he realized what's going on.

"BLOSSOM!" screamed Red.

In anger, Red ran up to the confound Swift and kicked him off Blossom. Swift flew through the air and banged into a wall. He then fell onto the ground with a loud 'OOF'!

"My #&%$!" said the pained Swift. **[4]**

Red growled at the battered inkling before taking his eyes on his sister.

"Are you OK?" said Red quickly helping Blossom to her feet.

"I'm…" said Blossom, slightly dizzy though not mentally hurt. "I'm alright…thank you very…"

She slowly trailed off as the angry Alex came up to them.

"What are you two doing here?" she said in a gruff voice.

"What?" said Red confused.

"Let me rephrase that again; WHAT are you two OCTOLINGS doing here and are you here to STEAL the Great Zapfish again?!"

"WHAT?!" said Blossom shocked. "Nonono! It isn't what you think-"

"YOU'RE LYING!" snarled Alex grabbing Blossom by the hood and Red by the collar. "TELL me what you're DOING HERE!"

"I swear," said Red calmly, trying to end the argument. "We aren't here to do trouble!"

Cadet recognized the signature orange hair color. He realized one thing.

"It's Team Citrus," he groaned in his mind. "The nuisances Olivia mentioned about last night. They might have been good in keeping the New Squidbeak Splatoon secret, but that doesn't mean they hide their hatred on octolings from everyone."

Cadet caught a glance at Hunter's suspicious look. The Skull Sniper sighed.

"I have to make a bloody oath to Team Citrus," he thought. "But I could not let Hunter hear about this."

Cadet decided to walk over to the fiery arguing. Luckily, there weren't many people in the shop as the shop was nearly closing so nobody else was watching. It would be good since he didn't have to be worried about telling the truth.

"Hey," he said.

This caught the attention of Hunter, Blossom, Red and Team Citrus. Even Swift woke up and saw Cadet.

"Oh…uh…" said Aki surprised to see Cadet. She was nervous to see the Skull Sniper joining the argument. "Hi there…we haven't seen you for so long…"

"What's going on?" said Cadet crossing his arms.

"These two octolings broke into the shop…" grumbled Swift getting up.

"What?!" said Red. "We didn't…"

"Then what are you trying to do?!" snapped Alex threateningly.

"Hold up for a minute," said Hunter separating Alex from the octolings. "What's going on?"

"Hunter," said Cadet. "I suggest that you stay out of this. Wait outside for us."

"I'm not going out clueless. Tell me; what's going…"

"I said stay out of this…NOW," said Cadet with a nasty, angry glare.

Seeing the look on the Skull Sniper's face, Hunter sighed and obediently left.

Cadet looked back at Team Citrus.

"These two octolings are just here to explore around," said Cadet. "Leave them alone."

"But aren't Octarians are enemies, dude?" said Lil-X. "Remember the Great Turf War? They might be here to take over Inkopolis as revenge!"

"Yeah," said Aki. "I'm not sure if we could trust them. They could do something wrong."

"What you are saying is IFFY. They AREN'T doing anything wrong," growled Cadet. "They are just here to look around."

"HOW in the world could you prove that they're 'innocent'?" said Alex.

Blossom and Red winced. They wondered what motivated those inklings to hate them.

Cadet's eyes narrowed. "You want to know why? Those two octolings are AGENTS of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. And so am I."

Team Citrus was shocked; Aki's face turned pale. Lil-X's mouth went wide opened. Alex raised an eyebrow. Swift's eyes widen up.

"W…What?!" said Aki. "Y…you're squidding me, aren't you? Ho…How did you know about the New Squidbeak Splatoon?"

"Then where do you think I got the Hero Hoodie from?" asked Cadet with the 'it's so obvious' look. "You could even ask the Squid Sisters, Olivia, Jedi, Captain Cuttlefish and Off The Hook if you want proof."

It took a while for Team Citrus to recover and came up with an objection.

"Whatever," said Lil-X. "Even if you are an agent or not, you know that octolings are DANGEROUS. It would be a DISGRACE to have them here."

"Octarians are not bad people," said Cadet. "They are just confused as we are; thinking that each other's kind is evil. Those two octolings came here because they were bullied and wanted to escape. Yet, here you are picking on them, continuing the bullying AND hatred cycle. Can't you see my point or are you just blind? You're just racking off octolings like how inklings rack each other off for no good reason."

Team Citrus went silent. Cadet wasn't sure if they understood him or rejected the idea of accepting octolings. Then, Aki spoke.

"Excuse us for a moment," she said. "We need to talk for a while."

They left and hid behind a shelf. Blossom and Red looked at Cadet.

"Who…" said Blossom.

"The…" said Red.

"Heck…"

"Are they?"

Cadet looked at them with a sympathetic look. "They are Team Citrus; one of the known Turf War teams. They are the ones that knew about the New Squidbeak Splatoon. I guess after what Olivia told them, they aren't a big fan of you guys."

"I guess that's why you call them 'nuisances'," grumbled Red.

"Well they are; not in THAT way. They've been friendly to me, but they can be pushy at times…not to mention the stupid pranks some of them did."

Meanwhile, Team Citrus got together in a team doing their group huddle; which they always do when doing team discussions.

"I'm getting sick of these teams huddles," said Alex. "I'm one step away from turning those octolings into SUSHI."

"Please don't resort to brutal violence again guys," said Aki. "Cadet might be telling the truth. If he's now an agent of the New Squidbeak Splatoon, then he would know."

"But what if those octolings turn on us later, brah?" said Lil-X. "I don't want a double-crossing traitor here in Inkopolis."

"Just give them a chance," said Aki firmly. "The octolings don't seem to be armed with weapons or what-so-ever! Plus, Cadet said that they were bullied before-"

"Just because they were bullied before doesn't mean crap," said Swift. "We need to take precautions."

"As I was saying," said Aki. "Cadet said that they were bullied before and we saw Cadet getting bullied by other kids. I don't want us to be the bullies of anyone. By the way, we know that Marina – that famous pop star – is an octoling and we are not allowed to tell anyone about who stole the Great Zapfish. I don't want to break Olivia's promise. I say that we accept those octolings into our society AND THAT'S FINAL."

Swift, Lil-X and Alex stared at Aki for a long time, unsure what to do. It was silence until Lil-X spoke.

"OK then," he said. "I agree. I think it's best not to show hatred towards them and by the way, they look awesome."

Swift and Alex looked at each other before turning to Aki.

"Fine," said Swift. "I'm still keeping an eye on them. I'll see what I can do."

"Same," said Alex. "On one condition; if they betray us, I'll splat them to next century."

"Done," said Aki.

After waiting for a long time, Team Citrus returned to Cadet, Blossom and Red.

"Are you guys good?" asked Cadet.

"Yes," said Aki. "We are good."

At this, Cadet saw Oro and Hunter coming back into the shop. Just in time. He could breathe.

"Oh. Since you're here, I might as well introduce you four to the two newcomers; this is Blossom and her twin brother, Red."

Blossom and Red waved timidly.

"They just got here and are staying at Olivia's apartment which is where I'm living now. Blossom and Red, this is Team Citrus."

Aki came towards the two octoling and raised her hand for a handshake.

"My name's Aki," she said as she shook Blossom's hand. "Leader of Team Citrus. Pleased to be your acquaintance. Sorry for being hostile to you at first."

"It's alright," said Blossom and Red in unison as Aki shook Red's hand.

"Let me introduce you to my team," said Aki. "The one with the comb back hairstyle is Swift; one of the fastest and agile inklings in Inkopolis. He's our special weapon."

"Yo wassup," said Swift in a cool manner.

"Is Swift as fast as Olivia, AND as agile as me?" thought Red.

Aki continued. "The inkling with the mask is Lil-X-"

"The freshest kid of the world!" interrupted Lil-X making a cool hip-hop pose.

Cadet looked at Lil-X with a bored look. "You know that STILL doesn't even ring a bell."

The Skull Sniper could always tell. Almost every inkling would boast that they were the freshest squid despite not being as good as they THOUGHT. However, Blossom and Red didn't notice.

"Huh," said Blossom. "I thought that Oro IS the fresh one."

"WHAT?!" said Lil-X shocked.

"Anyway," said Aki pushing Lil-X aside. "He's our wingman. The last person I didn't mention yet is Alex; our battle planner."

"Whatever," said Alex rolling her eyes.

"Don't worry about her," said Swift. "She doesn't get along well with new people."

Alex gave Swift a look. That was when Oro and Hunter finally arrived to find Cadet and the others.

"Well look who enters the party!" said Oro warmly. "It's the dudes; Team Citrus!"

"Oro…" said Lil-X slowly, clearly a bit upset that Blossom and Red thought that Oro was the freshest. "What did you tell them?"

"Anyway," said Hunter. "Let's go. The shop is about to close. We should get some lunch."

Cadet, Blossom and Red started to follow Oro and Hunter when Aki called them.

"Can we come along with you guys?" she asked. "Maybe we can show them around as well."

"Sure," said Oro.

"As long as you don't hurt Blossom and Red again," said Cadet gruffly.

Aki nodded nervously. Even though she knew Cadet's vulnerabilities, she was kind of scared of him. She didn't want to mess with the Skull Sniper.

The group – now with Team Citrus – started to head out into the shop. Before they even got through the entrance of the shop, Alex grabbed both Blossom and Red and dragged them to the back of the group.

"Listen, OCTARIANS," she hissed grabbing both their collars and pulled them so that their faces were almost touching. She could even see Red's eyes since his glasses were down a bit. "The only reason why I agreed to give you a chance is that my friends trust you. If it were up to me, I would throw you off the roof of this mall. If you do anything that involves bringing destruction to Inkopolis or hurt my friends, I swear I will take your eyeballs off and punch you in the face with YOUR own fists! You got that?!"

Both Blossom and Red quickly nodded. Alex let go of their collars and walked out of the shop, shoving through Aki, Swift and Lil-X; the trio shocked at what they saw.

Blossom and Red stared at each other; trading nervous looks.

"Do you think she is stronger than me?" asked Red adjusting his glasses.

"Who knows," said Blossom. "Let's not mess with her, or we might meet our fate."

They caught up with the group, slightly trembling.

* * *

"So we have another boy who NEVER took off his mask," said Red to Lil-X as they walked through the enormous hallway.

Lil-X groaned. "The reason I wear it because I am sick…most of the times."

As if to answer Red, Lil-X started to double up and coughed loudly. Swift quickly respond to this and started to pat Lil-X on the back.

"Easy X," said Swift slowly. "Breath. Cough softly if you need to."

Lil-X took that advice, and after a while, he stopped coughing.

"I hope that you will feel well," said Blossom.

"That's OK," said Lil-X. "It's just a regular thing."

"Anyway," said Swift. "Are you good in Turf Wars? What are your ranks?"

"Uh…" said Blossom and Red in unison. "We haven't played it yet."

"But we were trained in the Octarian Army," said Blossom.

"My rank is A+ while Blossom's is A," said Red. "Blossom is a sharpshooter, and I am pretty strong acrobatic."

"Strong acrobatic," said Lil-X surprised. "That's pretty dope."

"You must be as good as me," said Swift. "Can you show us some?"

"Probably not in THIS place," said Blossom.

Behind them was Cadet who was talking with Aki and Alex while Oro and Hunter were behind them.

"Wow," said Aki once Cadet finished talking (actually whispering) about his agent career. "That's a lot you have to go through."

Alex nudged on Cadat's shoulder. "Cade, do you think it's weird to have octolings here?"

Cadet shrugged. "Not really. You know it isn't bad to have people from foreign places to come to Inkopolis. You know that the other Inklings treat others the same."

"But they could be here to plan something bad to take over Inkopolis! You know that octolings are our enemies."

"Well, that was a billion years ago. These octolings have changed, and they don't want to live on with the oppression of the Octarian Army. Besides, if they were planning something, they would have their Octoling Goggles here to contact the other Octarians."

Alex nodded reluctantly. "A question though; where did Red get that hairstyle from?"

"Well, he said he got it from the Octarian Army. He said he doesn't like it that much."

"It looks kind of cool," said Aki.

Curious, Alex sneaked up to Red from his back, observing his hair. She pokes a few of his tentacles startling the octoling. Red looked behind.

And that was when out of nowhere, a person wearing a Freddy mask jumped out and screamed at Red and Alex. **[3]**

 **RAAAAAAAAAHH!**

ARGGGGHHHHH!

Both Red and Alex fell. Red's glasses fell off, but his eyes were closed. Everyone stared in shock before looking at the person with the Freddy mask.

The person laughed. Taking off the hideous mask, it is revealed to be Angel; with bubblegum pink hair.

Alex got up and glared at the laughing Angel.

"Holy shogun!" laughed Angel mockingly. "That was so hilarious. You should have seen the look on your face!"

"YOU SON OF A GLITCH!" screamed Alex as she threw herself at Angel.

As the two flew in the air, they crashed through the door of an abandoned shop. Oro and Hunter decided to look through the window to see the cat-fight.

At first, Hunter looked annoyed, but that changed when a cardboard piece covered in paint splatted onto the window. He winced at the sight of the awful fight. Oro, on the other hand, was recording this.

"Oro…" said Hunter. "I don't think this is-"

"No, no, no!" said Oro. "It gets better!"

Meanwhile, Red gained consciousness to find Gem (with her navy blue hair) staring at him. She just looked at him with a stern look.

"Oh…" said Red trying to cover his eyes. He's a bit embarrassed of showing his eyes. "…um…"

Without saying a word, Gem grabbed Red's hand and pulled him up. She then gave him back his glasses.

"Oh…uh…" stuttered Red as he quickly put his glasses back on to hide his eyes. "T…thank you…"

Gem nodded in response. Red wondered why she didn't talk. The thought was pushed aside when a voice was heard.

"My most humble apology about that. My sister can be irritating at times."

Cadet, Blossom and Red (including Team Citrus) looked at the person who spoke. It was Angelo. He wasn't wearing his Milky Eminence Jacket and his Milky Enperrials, now wearing an open Golden Zip Hoodie (a gold recolour of the Green Zip Hoodie), a Dakro Golden Tee and Gold Hi-Horses. However, Cadet recognized him for his gold-colored hair.

"Oh," said Cadet. He even noticed behind him was Mary holding a trolley full of different items. "Hi, Angelo."

"Valorous to see thee again, Skull Sniper," said Angelo though not showing a smile.

Blossom and Red looked at each other confused about what that Angelo guy was saying. That was when the gold inkling noticed the two octolings.

"Who art those two newcomers?" asked Angelo tilting his head slightly. "I've nev'r seen people like this ere."

"Oh," said Cadet. "This is Blossom and Red. These octoling twins just moved to Inkopolis just yesterday, and they are staying with Olivia and me."

Angelo suspiciously raised an eyebrow before smirking and came up to Blossom to shake her hand.

"Nice to meeteth thee," said Angelo in somewhat a charmingly way. "It's an honor to meeteth an octoling."

"Uh…thanks…" said Blossom feeling a bit confused about what Angelo was saying.

Angelo then shook Red's hand and much to the latter's surprise, Angelo's grip was pretty firm. Red started to think if Angelo was stronger than he.

"I believeth that Mary already knoweth thee two, right?" asked Angelo.

At first Blossom and Red found it difficult to understand what he was saying, but figured out that he was asking if Mary knew them before.

"Yeah," said Blossom. "We met her once."

Unknown to Angelo, Mary placed her finger over her mouth probably telling the octolings not to say the reason of how they got to Inkopolis.

"Alloweth me introduce myself," continued Angelo. "Thou mayst refer to me as Angelo Caramello; vaward of Team Bright."

"Team Bright?" asked Blossom.

"One of the best Turf War teams in Inkopolis!" said Swift. "He's Rank X and he wears this cool king costume when in battles! You should see how he fights in battle."

"You want to say that again, *#$?er!" said Alex in the background, though the others were oblivious to the ongoing catfight. **[4]**

"It's true that lest I in enseamed X," said Angelo. "This is the highest enseamed a true king could achieve-"

He was cut off when Angel was thrown from the fight and smashed into the trolley Mary was holding on. It caused the whole cart to tip over along with its items.

"HA!" said Alex, celebrating her victory. "Suck my nose, chump!"

Angelo sighed and placed his hand on his forehead. "I would like to stayeth around and talk, but I have other things to doth. See thou anon."

He went to help Mary and Gem placing the items back into the trolley before grabbing Angel by the ear.

"Doth we has't to wend through this again?" grumbled Angelo as he and his team walked away

As they watched Angelo walked around the corner, they continued to walk.

"This is going to get one thousand views on Splatnet!" said Oro as he replayed the video.

"Please no, Oro," said Hunter. "You know that is a bad idea to record such a stupid event like this."

Blossom nudged Cadet's shoulder. "Cadet, why does Angelo speak like that?"

"Like what?" said Cadet.

"Like in that 'Shakespeare' language?"

Cadet shrugged. "It's just his manner. I guess that he acts like a true, noble king from the Middle Ages."

"Like an awesome God," said Lil-X.

"How come the girl with the navy blue hair doesn't speak that much?" asked Red. "She didn't say anything when she helped me to get up."

"You mean Gem? Nobody knows," said Aki. "All we know is that she doesn't make a sound. She doesn't even smile."

* * *

They arrived at the food court. There weren't that many people, so they were able to set two tables together for all eight of them.

"So what shall we eat?" said Swift.

"I heard that there is a Crust Bucket restaurant nearby here," said Hunter.

"I might as well go there to grab some food for us," said Aki standing up. "I will be right back."

As Aki walked off, a buzzing was heard from Hunter's jacket pocket.

"Huh," said Hunter taking it out and answering the call. "Hi, who's this? What? Oh no. I'll be right there."

He disconnected the call and stood up.

"What's wrong, dude?" asked Lil-X.

"Mauve escaped from his cell and is now terrorizing the village," grumbled Hunter. "I'm going to stop him. Sorry that I have to go."

"Have fun," said Oro with a smile.

Hunter cursed something in Inkling language and ran off.

"What did Hunter say?" said Blossom slightly concerned.

"Don't worry," said Oro. "He was sarcastic. Just some stupid shenanigan my friend did that put him in trouble."

"Oh."

Aki arrived back with the food tray; consisting of deep fried prawns in different ways; in the form of hot dogs and some kind of waffles with ice cream on it.

"Hey," said Aki noticing Hunter was missing. "Where did the Hunter boy go?"

"He has to do something," said Oro. "Don't worry about him. He'll be fine."

Soon, they all tucked into some of the food. As for the first time eating Crust Bucket food, they found the food a bit weird. Even when they ate the Deep-Fried Shwaffle; a combination of waffle, prawn, chocolate sauce and whipped cream. It was a pretty strange cuisine, but it tasted good.

"So…" said Cadet. "What do you think of it?"

"Uh…it seemed unusual, but it tasted pretty nice," said Blossom in response.

They continue to chat and enjoyed their food, but Cadet wondered where's Olivia; she said that she's going to meet him and the others at lunchtime. By 1:56 pm, he was a bit concerned.

"Cade," said Blossom. "You said that Olivia would be here soon. Where is she?"

"I don't know…" said Cadet.

Shortly, Olivia arrived…along with Jedi, Callie and Marie.

"Hello guys!" said Olivia.

"Oh," said Aki looking up. "Hi, Olivia. Hi, Jedi."

"Ah!" said Swift loudly upon seeing Callie and Marie. "It's Ca-"

Aki quickly jabbed Swift in the guts.

"I told you not to say their name loudly when they are in disguise in public!" whispered Aki.

"Sorry," said Swift sheepishly. "But it's the second time we get to see the Squid Sisters!"

"Are we late?" said Olivia.

"You're a bit," said Cadet. "What took you so long?"

"Well. A lot had happened at Pearl's house as we are supposed to fix her house electrical and water systems. Cuttlefish nearly swallowed a bottle of gasoline, Olivia broke the water pipes, Callie set a voltmeter to 10 Volts and the house NEARLY EXPLODE!" complained Jedi angrily before – for some reason – put his two thumbs up and smiled (though he's still wearing his mask). "You know; the USUAL!"

Cadet, Blossom and Red stared in shock.

"Huh?" said Lil-X tilting his head in confusion.

At this, Olivia noticed Team Citrus sitting with Cadet, Blossom and Red.

"Oh hi there," said Oliva. "I see you met Blossom and Red."

"You just noticed that now?" said Cadet.

"Well it was nice to meet the two octolings," said Aki.

"Uh…" said Alex checking her watch. "We got a turf war in 10 minutes at Inkopolis Plaza."

"Oh," said Lil-X. "We forgot."

"We got to go now," said Swift.

"Right," said Aki. "We got to go. It's nice to hang out with you."

"See you guys," said Blossom and Red in unison as Aki, Swift and Lil-X walked off.

Alex came up to Olivia and whispered in her ear: "And I am going to keep an eye on those OCTARIANS."

Olivia rolled her eyes as Alex walked off with her team.

"I see that some inklings don't like you two," said Marie looking at Red and Blossom.

"Yeah…" said Blossom. "At first, those four didn't like us. Now, only Alex doesn't seem to trust us."

"Don't worry," said Callie. "I think that you will be able to get along with them in a day or two."

"Ya think?" said Cadet.

* * *

 **AN: Whew. I'm glad to say that I finished that last chapter for the story. I would like to thank everyone who have been reading this story. It reached to 1613 views already! I'm shocked! A shout-out to BaronVirus, Enderkitty68, Infinite's Ruby, The-Story-Man1, The Sensational SpiderDom321, Pikachu025yoshi, TrimusicalDrag00n90 and those mysterious guests for following/favoring/reviewing this story! I would like to thank you guys for liking my story. Also, another huge round of applause for Infinite's Ruby and a friend of mine who helped me made some OCs for this story.**

 **[1] Just to let you know that in my stories, the characters are the same height as like in the game. Only a few characters will be slightly taller.**

 **[2] Cadet is actually an Australian Aboriginal. He's not really an African. I decided to put that up because he speaks in an Australian accent sometimes as he says 'bloody' sometimes.**

 **[3] The Freddy mask comes from the FNAF game. I decided to use that to make a bit of a jumpscare for Red and Alex.**

 **[4]** **Please excuse the words replaced by various symbols as the letters for that word were caught in traffic and unable to make it here on time for the chapter. :3**

 **What's next for me? I haven't broke my promise; Yes, I'm working on my next story for Forces United; Resist the Dark. The problem is I'm trying to get back my motivation for writing it by 2 problems; getting interested in other things and the feeling of not doing anything. Luckily, I'm halfway through the story, so it should be released this Christmas holidays.**

 **As for the Inkcredible story; it's just the beginning. Like Forces United, this one will be a series. I will be planning to make a sequel of Inkcredible called the King Tournament. I won't give out spoilers, but there will be more octolings, more new characters, more trouble and some romance...:p**

 **If you like this story: follow or favorite this story for updates of the story. Make sure to review this chapter on what you thought of this story. I'm OK of hearing improvements from you (please no flames).**

 **Until next time, be safe, don't feel down, be with others who care about you, may God be with you all and stay fresh (or would I say stay off the hook?)**

 **Keep on rocking,**

 **TurquoiseTriangle...out.**


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